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diff --git a/41424-0.txt b/41424-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e0103f --- /dev/null +++ b/41424-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,24721 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41424 *** + + THE TRIBES AND CASTES OF THE CENTRAL PROVINCES OF INDIA + + By + + R.V. RUSSELL + Of the Indian Civil Service Superintendent of Ethnography, Central + Provinces + Assisted by + Rai Bahadur Hira Lal + Extra Assistant Commissioner + + + Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration + + In Four Volumes + Vol. III. + + Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London. + + 1916 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME III + +Articles on Castes and Tribes of the Central Provinces in Alphabetical +Order + +The articles which are considered to be of most general interest are +shown in capitals + + + Page + Gadaria (Shepherd) 3 + Gadba (Forest tribe) 9 + Ganda (Weaver and labourer) 14 + Gandhmali (Uriya village priests and temple servants) 17 + Garpagari (Averter of hailstorms) 19 + Gauria (Snake-charmer and juggler) 24 + Ghasia (Grass-cutter) 27 + Ghosi (Buffalo-herdsman) 32 + Golar (Herdsman) 35 + Gond (Forest tribe and cultivator) 39 + Gond-Gowari (Herdsman) 143 + Gondhali (Religious mendicant) 144 + Gopal (Vagrant criminal caste) 147 + Gosain (Religious mendicant) 150 + Gowari (Herdsman) 160 + Gujar (Cultivator) 166 + Gurao (Village priest) 175 + Halba (Forest tribe, labourer) 182 + Halwai (Confectioner) 201 + Hatkar (Soldier, shepherd) 204 + Hijra (Eunuch, mendicant) 206 + Holia (Labourer, curing hides) 212 + Injhwar (Boatman and fisherman) 213 + Jadam (Cultivator) 217 + Jadua (Criminal caste) 219 + Jangam (Priest of the Lingayat sect) 222 + Jat (Landowner and cultivator) 225 + Jhadi Telenga (Illegitimate, labourer) 238 + Jogi (Religious mendicant and pedlar) 243 + Joshi (Astrologer and village priest) 255 + Julaha (Weaver) 279 + Kachera (Maker of glass bangles) 281 + Kachhi (Vegetable-grower) 285 + Kadera (Firework-maker) 288 + Kahar (Palanquin-bearer and household servant) 291 + Kaikari (Basket-maker and vagrant) 296 + Kalanga (Soldier, cultivator) 302 + Kalar (Liquor vendor) 306 + Kamar (Forest tribe) 323 + Kanjar (Gipsies and prostitutes) 331 + Kapewar (Cultivator) 342 + Karan (Writer and clerk) 343 + Kasai (Butcher) 346 + Kasar (Worker in brass) 369 + Kasbi (Prostitute) 373 + Katia (Cotton-spinner) 384 + Kawar (Forest tribe and cultivator) 389 + Kayasth (Village accountant, writer and clerk) 404 + Kewat (Boatman and fisherman) 422 + Khairwar (Forest tribe; boilers of catechu) 427 + Khandait (Soldier, cultivator) 436 + Khangar (Village watchman and labourer) 439 + Kharia (Forest tribe, labourer) 445 + Khatik (Mutton-butcher) 453 + Khatri (Merchant) 456 + Khojah (Trader and shopkeeper) 461 + Khond (Forest tribe, cultivator) 464 + Kir (Cultivator) 481 + Kirar (Cultivator) 485 + Kohli (Cultivator) 493 + Kol (Forest tribe, labourer) 500 + Kolam (Forest tribe, cultivator) 520 + Kolhati (Acrobat) 527 + Koli (Forest tribe, cultivator) 532 + Kolta (Landowner and cultivator) 537 + Komti (Merchant and shopkeeper) 542 + Kori (Weaver and labourer) 545 + Korku (Forest tribe, labourer) 550 + Korwa (Forest tribe, cultivator) 571 + Koshti (Weaver) 581 + + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME III + + + Page +65. Gond women grinding corn 42 +66. Palace of the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla at Ramnagar 46 +67. Gonds on a journey 62 +68. Killing of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, from whom the + Gonds are supposed to be descended 114 +69. Woman about to be swung round the post called Meghnath 116 +70. Climbing the pole for a bag of sugar 118 +71. Gonds with their bamboo carts at market 122 +72. Gond women, showing tattooing on backs of legs 126 +73. Maria Gonds in dancing costume 136 +74. Gondhali musicians and dancers 144 +75. Gosain mendicant 150 +76. Alakhwale Gosains with faces covered with ashes 152 +77. Gosain mendicants with long hair 154 +78. Famous Gosain Mahant. Photograph taken after death 156 +79. Gujar village proprietress and her land agent 168 +80. Guraos with figures made at the Holi festival called + Gangour 176 +81. Group of Gurao musicians with their instruments 180 +82. Ploughing with cows and buffaloes in Chhattisgarh 182 +83. Halwai or confectioner's shop 202 +84. Jogi mendicants of the Kanphata sect 244 +85. Jogi musicians with sarangi or fiddle 250 +86. Kaikaris making baskets 298 +87. Kanjars making ropes 332 +88. A group of Kasars or brass-workers 370 +89. Dancing girls and musicians 374 +90. Girl in full dress and ornaments 378 +91. Old type of sugarcane mill 494 +92. Group of Kol women 512 +93. Group of Kolams 520 +94. Korkus of the Melghat hills 550 +95. Korku women in full dress 556 +96. Koshti men dancing a figure, holding strings and beating + sticks 582 + + + + + + + +PRONUNCIATION + + + a has the sound of u in but or murmur. + a has the sound of a in bath or tar. + e has the sound of é in écarté or ai in maid. + i has the sound of i in bit, or (as a final letter) of y in sulky. + i has the sound of ee in beet. + o has the sound of o in bore or bowl. + u has the sound of u in put or bull. + u has the sound of oo in poor or boot + + +The plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words is formed +by adding s in the English manner according to ordinary usage, though +this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural. + +Note.--The rupee contains 16 annas, and an anna is of the same value +as a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing. Rs. 1-8 +signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred thousand, +and a krore ten million. + + + + + + + + PART III + + ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES + + GARARDIA--KOSHTI + + + + + + +Gadaria + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. General notice. + 2. Subdivisions. + 3. Marriage customs. + 4. Religion and funeral rites. + 5. Social customs. + 6. Goats and sheep. + 7. Blanket-weaving. + 8. Sanctity of wool. + + + + +1. General notice. + +Gadaria, Gadri. [1]--The occupational shepherd caste of northern +India. The name is derived from the Hindi gadar and the Sanskrit +gandhara, a sheep, the Sanskrit name being taken from the country of +Gandhara or Kandahar, from which sheep were first brought. The three +main shepherd castes all have functional names, that of the Dhangars +or Maratha shepherds being derived from dhan, small stock, while the +Kuramwars or Telugu shepherds take their name like the Gadarias from +kuruba, a sheep. These three castes are of similar nature and status, +and differ only in language and local customs. In 1911 the Gadarias +numbered 41,000 persons. They are found in the northern Districts, +and appear to have been amongst the earliest settlers in the Nerbudda +valley, for they have given their name to several villages, as +Gadariakheda and Gadarwara. + + + + +2. Subdivisions. + +The Gadarias are a very mixed caste. They themselves say that their +first ancestor was created by Mahadeo to tend his rams, and that he +married three women who were fascinated by the sight of him shearing +the sheep. These belonged to the Brahman, Dhimar and Barai castes +respectively, and became the ancestors of the Nikhar, Dhengar and +Barmaiyan subcastes of Gadarias. The Nikhar subcaste are the highest, +their name meaning pure. Dhengar is probably, in reality, a corruption +of Dhangar, the name of the Maratha shepherd caste. They have other +subdivisions of the common territorial type, as Jheria or jungly, +applied to the Gadarias of Chhattisgarh; Desha from desh, country, +meaning those who came from northern India; Purvaiya or eastern, +applied to immigrants from Oudh; and Malvi or those belonging to +Malwa. Nikhar and Dhengar men take food together, but not the women; +and if a marriage cannot be otherwise arranged these subcastes will +sometimes give daughters to each other. A girl thus married is no +longer permitted to take food at her father's house, but she may eat +with the women of her husband's subcaste. Many of their exogamous +groups are named after animals or plants, as Hiranwar, from hiran, +a deer; Sapha from the cobra, Moria from the peacock, Nahar from the +tiger, Phulsungha, a flower, and so on. Others are the names of Rajput +septs and of other castes, as Ahirwar (Ahir) and Bamhania (Brahman). + +Another more ambitious legend derives their origin from the Bania +caste. They say that once a Bania was walking along the road with a +cocoanut in his hand when Vishnu met him and asked him what it was. The +Bania answered that it was a cocoanut. Vishnu said that it was not +a cocoanut but wool, and told him to break it, and on breaking the +cocoanut the Bania found that it was filled with wool. The Bania asked +what he should do with it, and Vishnu told him to make a blanket out +of it for the god to sit on. So he made a blanket, and Vishnu said +that from that day he should be the ancestor of the Gadaria caste, +and earn his bread by making blankets from the wool of sheep. The +Bania asked where he should get the sheep from, and the god told him +to go home saying 'Ehan, Ehan, Ehan,' all the way, and when he got +home he would find a flock of sheep following him; but he was not to +look behind him all the way. And the Bania did so, but when he had +almost got home he could not help looking behind him to see if there +were really any sheep. And he saw a long line of sheep following him +in single file, and at the very end was a ram with golden horns just +rising out of the ground. But as he looked it sank back again into +the ground, and he went back to Vishnu and begged for it, but Vishnu +said that as he had looked behind him he had lost it. And this was +the origin of the Gadaria caste, and the Gadarias always say 'Ehan, +Ehan,' as they lead their flocks of sheep and goats to pasture. + + + + +3. Marriage customs. + +Marriage within the clan is forbidden and also the union of first +cousins. Girls may be married at any age, and are sometimes united to +husbands much younger than themselves. Four castemen of standing carry +the proposal of marriage from the boy's father, and the girl's father, +being forewarned, sends others to meet them. One of the ambassadors +opens the conversation by saying, 'We have the milk and you have the +milk-pail; let them be joined.' To which the girl's party, if the +match be agreeable, will reply, "Yes, we have the tamarind and you +have the mango; if the panches agree let there be a marriage." The +boy's father gives the girl's father five areca-nuts, and the latter +returns them and they clasp each other round the neck. When the +wedding procession reaches the bride's village it is met by their +party, and one of them takes the sarota or iron nut-cutter, which +the bridegroom holds in his hand, and twirls it about in the air +several times. The ceremony is performed by walking round the sacred +pole, and the party return to the bridegroom's lodging, where his +brother-in-law fills the bride's lap with sweetmeats and water-nut +as an omen of fertility. The maihar or small wedding-cakes of wheat +fried in sesamum oil are distributed to all members of the caste +present at the wedding. While the bridegroom's party is absent at +the bride's house, the women who remain behind enjoy amusements of +their own. One of them strips herself naked, tying up her hair like +a religious mendicant, and is known as Baba or holy father. In this +state she romps with her companions in turn, while the others laugh +and applaud. Occasionally some man hides himself in a place where +he can be a witness of their play, but if they discover him he is +beaten severely with belnas or wooden bread-rollers. Widow-marriage +and divorce are permitted, the widow being usually expected to marry +her late husband's younger brother, whether he already has a wife or +not. Sexual offences are not severely reprobated, and may be atoned +for by a feast to the caste-fellows. + + + + +4. Religion and funeral rites. + +The Gadarias worship the ordinary Hindu deities and also Dishai Devi, +the goddess of the sheep-pen. No Gadaria may go into the sheep-pen with +his shoes on. On entering it in the morning they make obeisance to the +sheep, and these customs seem to indicate that the goddess Dishai Devi +[2] is the deified sheep. When the sheep are shorn and the fleeces are +lying on the ground they take some milk from one of the ewes and mix +rice with it and sprinkle it over the wool. This rite is called Jimai, +and they say that it is feeding the wool, but it appears to be really +a sacrificial offering to the material. The caste burn the dead when +they can afford to do so, and take the bones to the Ganges or Nerbudda, +or if this is not practicable, throw them into the nearest stream. + + + + +5. Social customs. + +Well-to-do members of the caste employ Brahmans for ceremonial +purposes, but others dispense with their services. The Gadarias +eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain from fowls and pork. They +will take food cooked with water from a Lodhi or a Dangi, members +of these castes having formerly been their feudal chieftains in the +Vindhyan Districts and Nerbudda valley. Brahmans and members of the +good cultivating castes would be permitted to become Gadarias if +they should so desire. The head of the caste committee has the title +of Mahton and the office is hereditary, the holder being invariably +consulted on caste questions even if he should be a mere boy. The +Gadarias rank with those castes from whom a Brahman cannot take water, +but above the servile and labouring castes. They are usually somewhat +stupid, lazy and good-tempered, and are quite uneducated. Owing to +their work in cleaning the pens and moving about among the sheep, the +women often carry traces of the peculiar smell of these animals. This +is exemplified in the saying, 'Ek to Gadaria, dusre lahsan khae,' or +'Firstly she is a Gadaria and then she has eaten garlic'; the inference +being that she is far indeed from having the scent of the rose. + + + + +6. Goats and sheep. + +The regular occupations of the Gadarias are the breeding and grazing +of sheep and goats, and the weaving of country blankets from sheep's +wool. The flocks are usually tended by the children, while the men +and women spin and weave the wool and make blankets. Goats are bred +in larger numbers than sheep in the Central Provinces, being more +commonly used for food and sacrifices, while they are also valuable +for their manure. Any Hindu who thinks an animal sacrifice requisite, +and objects to a fowl as unclean, will choose a goat; and the animal +after being sacrificed provides a feast for the worshippers, his head +being the perquisite of the officiating priest. Muhammadans and most +castes of Hindus will eat goat's meat when they can afford it. The +milk is not popular and there is very little demand for it locally, +but it is often sold to the confectioners, and occasionally made into +butter and exported. Sheep's flesh is also eaten, but is not so highly +esteemed. In the case of both sheep and goats there is a feeling +against consuming the flesh of ewes. Sheep are generally black in +colour and only occasionally white. Goats are black, white, speckled +or reddish-white. Both animals are much smaller than in Europe. Both +sheep and goats are in brisk demand in the cotton tracts for their +manure in the hot-weather months, and will be kept continually on +the move from field to field for a month at a time. It is usual to +hire flocks at the rate of one rupee a hundred head for one night; +but sometimes the cultivators combine to buy a large flock, and +after penning them on their fields in the hot weather, send them to +Nagpur in the beginning of the rains to be disposed of. The Gadaria +was formerly the bête noir of the cultivator, on account of the +risk incurred by the crops from the depredations of his sheep and +goats. This is exemplified in the saying: + + + Ahir, Gadaria, Pasi, + Yeh tinon satyanasi, + + +or, 'The Ahir (herdsman), the Gadaria and the Pasi, these three are +the husbandmen's foes.' And again: + + + Ahir, Gadaria, Gujar, + Yeh tinon chahen ujar, + + +or 'The Ahir, the Gadaria and the Gujar want waste land,' that is for +grazing their flocks. But since the demand for manure has arisen, the +Gadaria has become a popular personage in the village. The shepherds +whistle to their flocks to guide them, and hang bells round the necks +of goats but not of sheep. Some of them, especially in forest tracts, +train ordinary pariah dogs to act as sheep-dogs. As a rule, rams and +he-goats are not gelt, but those who have large flocks sometimes resort +to this practice and afterwards fatten the animals up for sale. They +divide their sheep into five classes, as follows, according to the +length of the ears: Kanari, with ears a hand's length long; Semri, +somewhat shorter; Burhai, ears a forefinger's length; Churia, ears +as long as the little finger; and Neori, with ears as long only as +the top joint of the forefinger. Goats are divided into two classes, +those with ears a hand's length long being called Bangalia or Bagra, +while those with small ears a forefinger's length are known as Gujra. + + + + +7. Blanket-weaving. + +While ordinary cultivators have now taken to keeping goats, sheep +are still as a rule left to the Gadarias. These are of course valued +principally for their wool, from which the ordinary country blanket +is made. The sheep [3] are shorn two or sometimes three times a year, +in February, June and September, the best wool being obtained in +February from the cold weather coat. Members of the caste commonly +shear for each other without payment. The wool is carded with a +kamtha, or simple bow with a catgut string, and spun by the women of +the household. Blankets are woven by men on a loom like that used for +cotton cloth. The fabric is coarse and rough, but strong and durable, +and the colour is usually a dark dirty grey, approaching black, +being the same as that of the raw material. Every cultivator has one +of these, and the various uses to which it may be put are admirably +described by 'Eha' as follows: [4] + +"The kammal is a home-spun blanket of the wool of black sheep, thick, +strong, as rough as a farrier's rasp, and of a colour which cannot +get dirty. When the Kunbi (cultivator) comes out of his hole in the +morning it is wrapped round his shoulders and reaches to his knees, +guarding him from his great enemy, the cold, for the thermometer is +down to 60° Fahrenheit. By-and-by he has a load to carry, so he folds +his kammal into a thick pad and puts it on the top of his head. Anon +he feels tired, so he lays down his load, and arranging his kammal +as a cushion, sits with comfort on a rugged rock or a stony bank, and +has a smoke. Or else he rolls himself in it from head to foot, like a +mummy, and enjoys a sound sleep on the roadside. It begins to rain, +he folds his kammal into an ingenious cowl and is safe. Many more +are its uses. I cannot number them all. Whatever he may be called +upon to carry, be it forest produce, or grain or household goods, +or his infant child, he will make a bundle of it with his kammal and +poise it on his head, or sling it across his back, and trudge away." + + + + +8. Sanctity of wool. + +Wool is a material of some sanctity among the Hindus. It is +ceremonially pure, and woollen clothing can be worn by Brahmans +while eating or performing sacred functions. In many castes the +bridegroom at a wedding has a string of wool with a charm tied round +his waist. Religious mendicants wear jatas or wigs of sheep's wool, +and often carry woollen charms. The beads used for counting prayers are +often of wool. The reason for wool being thus held sacred may be that +it was an older kind of clothing used before cotton was introduced, +and thus acquired sanctity by being worn at sacrifices. Perhaps the +Aryans wore woollen clothing when they entered India. + + + + + + +Gadba + + +1. Description and structure of the tribe. + +Gadba, Gadaba. [5]--A primitive tribe classified as Mundari or Kolarian +on linguistic grounds. The word Gadba, Surgeon-Major Mitchell states, +signifies a person who carries loads on his shoulders. The tribe call +themselves Guthau. They belong to the Vizagapatam District of Madras, +and in the Central Provinces are found only in the Bastar State, into +which they have immigrated to the number of some 700 persons. They +speak a Mundari dialect, called Gadba, after their tribal name, and +are one of the two Mundari tribes found so far south as Vizagapatam, +the other being the Savars. [6] Their tribal organisation is not very +strict, and a Bhatra, a Parja, a Muria, or a member of any superior +caste may become a Gadba at an expenditure of two or three rupees. The +ceremony consists of shaving the body of the novice, irrespective of +sex, clean of hair, after which he or she is given to eat rice cooked +in the water of the Ganges. This is followed by a feast to the tribe +in which a pig must be killed. The Gadbas have totemistic exogamous +septs, usually named after animals, as gutal dog, angwan bear, dungra +tortoise, surangai tiger, gumal snake, and so on. Members of each sept +abstain from killing or injuring the animal or plant after which it is +named, but they have no scruple in procuring others to do this. Thus +if a snake enters the hut of a person belonging to the Gumal sept, +he will call a neighbour of another sept to kill it. He may not touch +its carcase with his bare hand, but if he holds it through a piece +of rag no sin is incurred. + + + + +2. Marriage. + +Marriage is adult, but the rule existing in Madras that a girl is +not permitted to marry until she can weave her own cloth does not +obtain in the Central Provinces. [7] As a rule the parents of the +couple arrange the match, but the wishes of the girl are sometimes +consulted and various irregular methods of union are recognised. Thus +a man is permitted with the help of his friends to go and carry off a +girl and keep her as his wife, more especially if she is a relation +on the maternal side more distant than a first cousin. Another form +is the Paisa Mundi, by which a married or unmarried woman may enter +the house of a man of her caste other than her husband and become his +wife; and the Upaliya, when a married woman elopes with a lover. The +marriage ceremony is simple. The bridegroom's party go to the girl's +house, leaving the parents behind, and before they reach it are met and +stopped by a bevy of young girls and men in their best clothes from +the bride's village. A girl comes forward and demands a ring, which +one of the men of the wedding party places on her finger, and they +then proceed to the bride's house, where the bridegroom's presents, +consisting of victuals, liquor, a cloth, and two rupees, are opened +and carefully examined. If any deficiency is found, it must at once +be made good. The pair eat a little food together, coloured rice is +applied to their foreheads, and on the second day a new grass shed is +erected, in which some rice is cooked by an unmarried girl. The bride +and bridegroom are shut up in this, and two pots of water are poured +over them from the roof, the marriage being then consummated. If +the girl is not adult this ceremony is omitted. Widow-marriage is +permitted by what is called the tika form, by which a few grains +of rice coloured with turmeric are placed on the foreheads of the +pair and they are considered as man and wife. There is no regular +divorce, but if a married woman misbehaves with a man of the caste, +the husband goes to him with a few friends and asks whether the story +is true, and if the accusation is admitted demands a pig and liquor +for himself and his friends as compensation. If these are given he +does not turn his wife out of his house. A liaison of a Gadba woman +with a man of a superior caste is also said to involve no penalty, but +if her paramour is a low-caste man she is excommunicated for ever. In +spite of these lax rules, however, Major Mitchell states that the +women are usually very devoted to their husbands. Mr. Thurston [8] +notes that among the Bonda Gadabas a young man and a maid retire to +the jungle and light a fire. Then the maid, taking a burning stick, +places it on the man's skin. If he cries out he is unworthy of her, +and she remains a maid. If he does not, the marriage is at once +consummated. The application of the brand is probably light or severe +according to the girl's feelings towards the young man. + + + + +3. Religious beliefs and festivals. + +The Gadbas worship Burhi Mata or Thakurani Mata, who is the goddess +of smallpox and rinderpest. They offer to her flowers and incense when +these diseases are prevalent among men or cattle, but if the epidemic +does not abate after a time, they abuse the goddess and tell her to do +her worst, suspending the offerings. They offer a white cock to the sun +and a red one to the moon, and various other deities exercise special +functions, Bhandarin being the goddess of agriculture and Dharni of +good health, while Bharwan is the protector of cattle and Dand Devi +of men from the attacks of wild beasts. They have vague notions +of a heaven and hell where the sinful will be punished, and also +believe in re-birth. But these ideas appear to be borrowed from their +Hindu neighbours. When the new rice crop is ripe, the first-fruits +are cooked and served to the cattle in new bamboo baskets, and are +then partaken of by men. The ripening of the mango crop is also an +important festival. In the bright fortnight of Chait (March) the men +go out hunting, and on their return cook the game before Matideo, +the god of hunting, who lives in a tree. In Madras the whole male +population turn out to hunt, and if they come back without success +the women pelt them with cowdung on their return. If successful, +however, they have their revenge on the women in another way. [9] +On festival days men and women dance together to the music of a pipe +and drum. Sometimes they form a circle, holding long poles, and jump +backwards and forwards to and from the centre by means of the pole; or +the women dance singly or in pairs, their hands resting on each other's +waists. A man and woman will then step out of the crowd and sing at +each other, the woman reflecting on the man's ungainly appearance and +want of skill as a cultivator or huntsman, while the man retorts by +reproaching her with her ugliness and slatternly habits. [10] + + + + +4. Disposal of the dead. + +The dead are buried with their feet to the west, ready to start for +the region of the setting sun. On their return from the funeral the +mourners stop on the way, and a fish is boiled and offered to the +dead. An egg is cut in half and placed on the ground, and pieces +of mango bark are laid beside it on which the mourners tread. The +women accompany the corpse, and in the meantime the house of the +dead person is cleaned with cowdung by the children left behind. On +the first day food is supplied to the mourners by their relatives, +and in the evening some cooked rice and vegetables are offered to the +dead. The mourning lasts for nine days, and on the last day a cow or +bullock is killed with the blunt head of an axe, the performance of +this function being hereditary in certain families of the caste. Some +blood from the animal and some cooked rice are put in leaf-cups and +placed on the grave by the head of the corpse. The animal is cooked +and eaten by the grave, and they then return to the cooking shed and +place its jawbone under a stick supported on two others, blood and +cooked rice being again offered. The old men and women bathe in warm +water, and all return to the place where the dead man breathed his +last. Here they drink and have another meal of rice and beef, which +is repeated on the following day, and the business of committing the +dead to the ancestors is complete. Liquor is offered to the ancestors +on feast days. + + + + +5. Occupation and mode of living. + +The caste are cultivators and labourers, while some are employed +as village watchmen, and others are hereditary palki-bearers to the +Raja of Bastar, enjoying a free grant of land. They practise shifting +cultivation, cleaning a space by indiscriminate felling in the forest, +and roughly ploughing the ground for a single broad-cast crop of rice; +in the following year the clearing is usually abandoned. Their dress +is simple, though they now wear ordinary cloth. Forty years ago it +is said that they wore coverings made from the bark of the kuring +tree and painted with horizontal bands of red, yellow and blue. [11] +A girdle of the thickness of a man's arm made from fine strips of bark +is still worn and is a distinguishing feature of the Gadba women. They +also carry a circlet round their forehead of the seeds of kusa grass +threaded on a string. Both men and women wear enormous earrings, the +men having three in each ear. The Gadbas are almost omnivorous, and eat +flesh, fish, fowls, pork, buffaloes, crocodiles, non-poisonous snakes, +large lizards, frogs, sparrows, crows and large red ants. They abstain +only from the flesh of monkeys, horses and asses. A Gadba must not +ride on a horse under penalty of being put out of caste. Mr. Thurston +[12] gives the following reason for this prejudice:--"The Gadbas of +Vizagapatam will not touch a horse, as they are palanquin-bearers, +and have the same objection to a rival animal as a cart-driver has +to a motor-car." They will eat the leavings of other castes and take +food from all except the impure ones, but like the Mehtars and Ghasias +elsewhere they will not take food or water from a Kayasth. Only the +lowest castes will eat with Gadbas, but they are not considered as +impure, and are allowed to enter temples and take part in religious +ceremonies. + + + + + + +Ganda + + +1. Distribution and origin. + +Ganda.--A servile and impure caste of Chota Nagpur and the Uriya +Districts. They numbered 278,000 persons in 1901, resident largely +in Sambalpur and the Uriya States, but since the transfer of this +territory to Bengal, only about 150,000 Gandas remain in the Central +Provinces in Raipur, Bilaspur and Raigarh. In this Province the Gandas +have become a servile caste of village drudges, acting as watchmen, +weavers of coarse cloth and musicians. They are looked on as an impure +caste, and are practically in the same position as the Mehras and +Chamars of other Districts. In Chota Nagpur, however, they are still +in some places recognised as a primitive tribe, [13] being generally +known here as Pan, Pab or Chik. Sir H. Risley suggests that the name +of Ganda may be derived from Gond, and that the Pans may originally +have been an offshoot of that tribe, but no connection between the +Gandas and Gonds has been established in the Central Provinces. + + + + +2. Caste subdivisions. + +The subcastes reported differ entirely from those recorded in +Orissa. In the Central Provinces they are mainly occupational. Thus +the Bajna or Bajgari are those who act as musicians at feasts and +marriages; the Mang or Mangia make screens and mats, while their women +serve as midwives; the Dholias make baskets; the Doms skin cattle and +the Nagarchis play on nakkaras or drums. Panka is also returned as a +subcaste of Ganda, but in the Central Provinces the Pankas are now +practically a separate caste, and consist of those Gandas who have +adopted Kabirpanthism and have thereby obtained some slight rise in +status. In Bengal Sir H. Risley mentions a group called Patradias, +or slaves and menials of the Khonds, and discusses the Patradias as +follows:--"The group seems also to include the descendants of Pans, +who sold themselves as slaves or were sold as Merias or victims to +the Khonds. We know that an extensive traffic in children destined +for human sacrifice used to go on in the Khond country, and that the +Pans were the agents who sometimes purchased, but more frequently +kidnapped, the children, whom they sold to the Khonds, and were so +debased that they occasionally sold their own offspring, though they +knew of course the fate that awaited them. [14] Moreover, apart from +the demand for sacrificial purposes, the practice of selling men as +agricultural labourers was until a few years ago by no means uncommon +in the wilder parts of the Chota Nagpur Division, where labour is +scarce and cash payments are almost unknown. Numbers of formal bonds +have come before me, whereby men sold themselves for a lump sum to +enable them to marry." The above quotation is inserted merely as an +interesting historical reminiscence of the Pans or Gandas. + + + + +3. Marriage. + +The Gandas have exogamous groups or septs of the usual low-caste type, +named after plants, animals or other inanimate objects. Marriage is +prohibited within the sept, and between the children of two sisters, +though the children of brothers and sisters may marry. If a girl +arrives at maturity without a husband having been found for her, +she is wedded to a spear stuck up in the courtyard of the house, +and then given away to anybody who wishes to take her. A girl going +wrong with a man of the caste is married to him by the ceremony +employed in the case of widows, while her parents have to feed the +caste. But a girl seduced by an outsider is permanently expelled. The +betrothal is marked by a present of various articles to the father of +the bride. Marriages must not be celebrated during the three rainy +months of Shrawan, Bhadon or Kunwar, nor during the dark fortnight +of the month, nor on a Saturday or Tuesday. The marriage-post is +of the wood of the mahua tree, and beneath it are placed seven +cowries and seven pieces of turmeric. An elderly male member of the +caste known as the Sethia conducts the ceremony, and the couple go +five times round the sacred pole in the morning and thrice in the +evening. When the bride and bridegroom return home after the wedding, +an image of a deer is made with grass and placed behind the ear of the +bride. The bridegroom then throws a toy arrow at it made of grass or +thin bamboo, and is allowed seven shots. If he fails to knock it out +of her ear after these the bride's brother takes it and runs away and +the bridegroom must follow and catch him. This is clearly a symbolic +process representing the chase, of the sort practised by the Khonds +and other primitive tribes, and may be taken as a reminiscence among +the Gandas of their former life in the forests. The remarriage of +widows is permitted, and the younger brother of the deceased husband +takes his widow if he wishes to do so. Otherwise she may marry whom +she pleases. A husband may divorce his wife for adultery before the +caste committee, and if she marries her lover he must repay to the +husband the expenses incurred by the latter on his wedding. + + + + +4. Religion. + +The Gandas principally worship Dulha Deo, the young bridegroom who +was carried off by a tiger, and they offer a goat to him at their +weddings. They observe the Hindu fasts and festivals, and at Dasahra +worship their musical instruments and the weaver's loom. Being +impure, they do not revere the tulsi plant nor the banyan or pipal +trees. Children are named on the sixth day after birth without any +special ceremony. The dead are generally buried from motives of +economy, as with most families the fuel required for cremation would +be a serious item of expenditure. A man is laid on his face in the +grave and a woman on her back. Mourning is observed for three days, +except in the case of children under three years old, whose deaths +entail no special observances. On the fourth day a feast is given, +and when all have been served, the chief mourner takes a little food +from the plate of each guest and puts it in a leaf-cup. He takes +another leaf-cup full of water and places the two outside the house, +saying 'Here is food for you' to the spirit of the departed. + + + + +5. Occupation and social status. + +The Gandas are generally employed either in weaving coarse cloth or as +village musicians. They sing and dance to the accompaniment of their +instruments, the dancers generally being two young boys dressed as +women. They have long hair and put on skirts and half-sleeved jackets, +with hollow anklets round their feet filled with stones to make them +tinkle. On their right shoulders are attached some peacocks' feathers, +and coloured cloths hang from their back and arms and wave about +when they dance. Among their musical instruments is the sing-baja, +a single drum made of iron with ox-hide leather stretched over it; +two horns project from the sides for purposes of decoration and +give the instrument its name, and it is beaten with thick leather +thongs. The dafla is a wooden drum open on one side and covered with +a goat-skin on the other, beaten with a cane and a bamboo stick. The +timki is a single hemispherical drum of earthenware; and the sahnai +is a sort of bamboo flute. The Gandas of Sambalpur have strong +criminal tendencies which have recently called for special measures of +repression. Nevertheless they are usually employed as village watchmen +in accordance with long-standing custom. They are considered as impure +and, though not compelled actually to live apart from the village, +have usually a separate quarter and are not permitted to draw water +from the village well or to enter Hindu temples. Their touch defiles, +and a Hindu will not give anything into the hands of one of the caste +while holding it himself, but will throw it down in front of the Ganda, +and will take anything from him in the same manner. They will admit +outsiders of higher rank into the caste, taking from them one or two +feasts. And it is reported that in Raipur a Brahman recently entered +the caste for love of a Ganda girl. + + + +Gandhmali + + +Gandhmali, [15] Thanapati.--The caste of village priests of the +temples of Siva or Mahadeo in Sambalpur and the Uriya States. They +numbered about 700 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911. The caste +appears to be an offshoot of the Malis or gardeners, differentiated +from them by their special occupation of temple attendants. In +Hindustan the priests of Siva's temples in villages are often Malis, +and in the Maratha country they are Guraos, another special caste, +or Phulmalis. Some members of the caste in Sambalpur, however, +aspire to Rajput origin and wear the sacred thread. These prefer +the designation of Thanapati or 'Master of the sacred place,' and +call the others who do not wear the thread Gandhmalis. Gandh means +incense. The Thanapatis say that on one occasion a Rajput prince +from Jaipur made a pilgrimage to the temple of Jagannath at Puri, +and on his return stopped at the celebrated temple of Mahadeo at Huma +near Sambalpur. Mahadeo appeared before the prince and asked him to +become his priest; the Rajput asked to be excused as he was old, +but Mahadeo promised him three sons, which he duly obtained and +in gratitude dedicated them to the service of the god. From these +sons the Thanapatis say that they are descended, but the claim is no +doubt quite illusory. The truth is, probably, that the Thanapatis are +priests of the temples situated in towns and large villages, and owing +to their calling have obtained considerable social estimation, which +they desire to justify and place on an enduring basis by their claim +to Rajput ancestry; while the Gandhmalis are village priests, more +or less in the position of village menials and below the cultivating +castes, and any such pretensions would therefore in their case be quite +untenable. There are signs of the cessation of intermarriage between +the two groups, but this has not been brought about as yet, probably +owing to the paucity of members in the caste and the difficulty of +arranging matches. Three functional subdivisions also appear to be in +process of formation, the Pujaris or priests of Mahadeo's temples, +the Bandhadias or those who worship him on the banks of tanks, and +the Mundjhulas [16] or devotees of the goddess Somlai in Sambalpur, +on whom the inspiration of the goddess descends, making them shake and +roll their heads. When in this state they are believed to drink the +blood flowing from goats sacrificed in the temple. For the purposes +of marriage the caste is divided into exogamous groups or bargas, the +names of which are usually titles or designations of offices. Marriage +within the barga is prohibited. When the bride is brought to the +altar in the marriage ceremony, she throws a garland of jasmine +flowers on the neck of the bridegroom. This custom resembles the old +Swayamwara form of marriage, in which a girl chose her own husband +by throwing a garland of flowers round his neck. But it probably has +no connection with this and merely denotes the fact that the caste +are gardeners by profession, similar ceremonies typifying the caste +calling being commonly performed at marriages, especially among the +Telugu castes. Girls should be married before adolescence and, as is +usual among the Uriya castes, if no suitable husband is forthcoming a +symbolic marriage is celebrated; the Thanapatis make her go through the +form with her maternal grandfather or sister's husband, and in default +of them with a tree. She is then immediately divorced and disposed +of as a widow. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. A +bachelor marrying a widow must first go through the ceremony with +a flower. The Gandhmalis, as the priests of Mahadeo, are generally +Saivas and wear red clothes covered with ochre. They consider that +their ultimate ancestor is the Nag or cobra and especially observe +the festival of Nag-Panchmi, abstaining from any cooked food on that +day. They both burn and bury the dead and perform the shraddh ceremony +or the offering of sacrificial cakes. They eat flesh but do not drink +liquor. Their social position is fairly good and Brahmans will take +water from their hands. Many of them hold free grants of land in return +for their services at the temples. A few are ordinary cultivators. + + + + + + +Garpagari + + +1. Origin of the caste. + +Garpagari. [17]--A caste of village menials whose function it is to +avert hailstorms from the crops. They are found principally in the +Maratha Districts of the Nagpur country and Berar, and numbered 9000 +persons in 1911. The name is derived from the Marathi gar, hail. The +Garpagaris are really Naths or Jogis who have taken to this calling and +become a separate caste. They wear clothes coloured with red ochre, +and a garland of rudraksha beads, and bury their dead in a sitting +posture. According to their tradition the first Garpagari was one +Raut, a Jogi, who accompanied a Kunbi malguzar on a visit to Benares, +and while there he prophesied that on a certain day all the crops +of their village would be destroyed by a hailstorm. The Kunbi then +besought him to save the crops if he could, and he answered that by +his magic he could draw off the hail from the rest of the village +and concentrate it in his own field, and he agreed to do this if the +cultivators would recompense him for his loss. When the two came home +to their village they found that there had been a severe hailstorm, +but it had all fallen in the Jogi's field. His loss was made good to +him and he adopted this calling as a profession, becoming the first +Garpagari, and being paid by contributions from the proprietor and +tenants. There are no subcastes except that the Kharchi Garpagari +are a bastard group, with whom the others refuse to intermarry. + + + + +2. Marriage. + +Marriage is regulated by exogamous groups, two of which, Watari from +the Otari or brass-worker, and Dhankar from the Dhangar or shepherds, +are named after other castes. Some are derived from the names of +animals, as Harnya from the black-buck, and Wagh from the tiger. The +Diunde group take their name from diundi, the kotwar's [18] drum. They +say that their ancestor was so named because he killed his brother, and +was proclaimed as an outlaw by beat of drum. The marriage of members +of the same group is forbidden and also that of the children of two +sisters, so long as the relationship between them is remembered. The +caste usually celebrate their weddings after those of the Kunbis, on +whom they depend for contributions to their expenses. Widow-marriage +is permitted, but the widow sometimes refuses to marry again, and, +becoming a Bhagat or devotee, performs long pilgrimages in male +attire. Divorce is permitted, but as women are scarce, is rarely +resorted to. The Garpagaris say, "If one would not throw away a +vegetable worth a damri (one-eighth of a pice or farthing), how shall +one throw away a wife who is 3 1/2 cubits long." A divorced wife is +allowed to marry again. + + + + +3. Religion. + +The caste worship Mahadeo or Siva and Mahabir or Hanuman, and do not +usually distinguish them. Their principal festival is called Mahi +and takes place on the first day of Poush (December), this being the +day from which hailstorms may be expected to occur; and next to this +Mando Amawas, or the first day of Chait (March), after which hailstorms +need not be feared. They offer goats to Mahadeo in his terrible form +of Kal Bhairava, and during the ceremony the Kunbis beat the daheka, +a small drum with bells, to enhance the effect of the sacrifice, so +that their crops may be saved. When a man is at the point of death +he is placed in the sitting posture in which he is to be buried, +for fear that after death his limbs may become so stiff that they +cannot be made to assume it. The corpse is carried to the grave in +a cloth coloured with red ochre. A gourd containing pulse and rice, +a pice coin, and a small quantity of any drug to which the deceased +may have been addicted in life are placed in the hands, and the grave +is filled in with earth and salt. A lamp is lighted on the place where +the death occurred, for one night, and on the third day a cocoanut is +broken there, after which mourning ends and the house is cleaned. A +stone brought from the bed of a river is plastered down on to the +grave with clay, and this may perhaps represent the dead man's spirit. + + + + +4. Occupation. + +The occupation of the Garpagari is to avert hailstorms, and he was +formerly remunerated by a customary contribution of rice from each +cultivator in the village. He received the usual presents at seed-time +and harvest, and two pice from each tenant on the Basant-Panchmi +festival. When the sky is of mixed red and black at night like smoke +and flame, the Garpagari knows that a hailstorm is coming. Then, taking +a sword in his hand, he goes and stands before Mahabir, and begs him +to disperse the clouds. When entreaties fail, he proceeds to threats, +saying that he will kill himself, and throws off his clothes. Sometimes +his wife and children go and stand with him before Mahabir's shrine +and he threatens to kill them. Formerly he would cut and slash himself, +so it is said, if Mahabir was obdurate, but now the utmost he does is +to draw some blood from a finger. He would also threaten to sacrifice +his son, and instances are known of his actually having done so. + +Two ideas appear to be involved in these sacrifices of the +Garpagari. One is the familiar principle of atonement, the blood +being offered to appease the god as a substitute for the crops +which he seems about to destroy. But when the Garpagari threatened +to kill himself, and actually killed his son, it was not merely as +an atonement, because in that case the threats would have had no +meaning. His intention seems rather to have been to lay the guilt of +homicide upon the god by slaying somebody in front of his shrine, +in case nothing less would move him from his purpose of destroying +the crops. The idea is the same as that with which people committed +suicide in order that their ghosts might haunt those who had driven +them to the act. As late as about the year 1905 a Gond Bhumka +or village priest was hanged in Chhindwara for killing his two +children. He owed a debt of Rs. 25 and the creditor was pressing +him and he had nothing to pay. So he flew into a rage and exclaimed +that the gods would do nothing for him even though he was a Bhumka, +and he seized his two children and cut off their heads and laid them +before the god. In this it would appear that the Bhumka's intention +was partly to take revenge on his master for the neglect shown to him, +the god's special servant. The Garpagari diverts the hail by throwing +a handful of grain in the direction in which he wishes it to go. When +the storm begins he will pick up some hailstones, smear them with his +blood and throw them away, telling them to rain over rivers, hills, +forests and barren ground. When caterpillars or locusts attack the +crops he catches one or two and offers them at Mahabir's shrine, +afterwards throwing them up in the air. Or he buries one alive and +this is supposed to stay the plague. When rust appears in the crops, +one or two blades are in like manner offered to Mahabir, and it is +believed that the disease will be stayed. Or if the rice plants do +not come into ear a few of them are plucked and offered, and fresh +fertile blades then come up. He also has various incantations which +are believed to divert the storm or to cause the hailstones to melt +into water. In some localities, when the buffalo is slaughtered at +the Dasahra festival, the Garpagari takes seven different kinds of +spring-crop seeds and dips them in its blood. He buries them in a +spot beside his hearth, and it is believed that when a hailstorm +threatens the grains move about and give out a humming sound like +water boiling. Thus the Garpagari has warning of the storm. If the +Garpagari is absent and a storm comes his wife will go and stand naked +before Mahabir's shrine. The wives know the incantations, but they +must not learn them from their husbands, because in that case the +husband would be in the position of a guru or spiritual preceptor +to his wife and the conjugal relation could no longer continue. No +other caste will learn the incantations, for to make the hailstones +melt is regarded as equivalent to causing an abortion, and as a sin +for which heavy retribution would be incurred in a future life. + +In Chhattisgarh the Baiga or village priest of the aboriginal tribes +averts hailstorms in the same manner as the Garpagari, and elsewhere +the Barais or betel-vine growers perform this function, which is +especially important to them because their vines are so liable to +be injured by hailstorms. In ancient Greece there existed a village +functionary, the Chalazo phulax, who kept off hailstorms in exactly the +same manner as the Garpagari. He would offer a victim, and if he had +none would draw blood from his own fingers to appease the storm. [19] + +The same power has even been imputed to Christian priests as recorded +by Sir James Frazer: "In many villages of Provence the priest is +still required to possess the faculty of averting storms. It is not +every priest who enjoys this reputation; and in some villages when +a change of pastors takes place, the parishioners are eager to learn +whether the new incumbent has the power (pouder) as they call it. At +the first sign of a heavy storm they put him to the proof by inviting +him to exorcise the threatening clouds; and if the result answers to +their hopes, the new shepherd is assured of the sympathy and respect +of his flock. In some parishes where the reputation of the curate +in this respect stood higher than that of the rector, the relations +between the two have been so strained in consequence that the bishop +has had to translate the rector to another benefice." [20] + +Of late years an unavoidable scepticism as to the Garpagari's +efficiency has led to a reduction of his earnings, and the cultivators +now frequently decline to give him anything, or only a sheaf of corn +at harvest. Some members of the caste have taken to weaving newar or +broad tape for beds, and others have become cultivators. + + + + +5. Social status. + +The Garpagaris eat flesh and drink liquor. They will take cooked +food from a Kunbi, though the Kunbis will not take even water from +them. They are a village menial caste and rank with others of the +same position, though on a somewhat lower level because they beg and +accept cooked food at the weddings of Kunbis. Their names usually +end in nath, as Ramnath, Kisannath and so on. + + + + + + +Gauria + + +Gauria. [21]--A small caste of snake-charmers and jugglers who are +an offshoot of the Gond tribe. They number about 500 persons and +are found only in Chhattisgarh. They have the same exogamous septs +as the Gonds, as Markam, Marai, Netam, Chhedaiha, Jagat, Purteti, +Chichura and others. But they are no doubt of very mixed origin, as is +shown by the fact that they do not eat together at their feasts, but +the guests all cook their own food and eat it separately. And after +a daughter has been married her own family even will not take food +from her hand because they are doubtful of her husband's status. It +is said that the Gaurias were accustomed formerly to beg only from +the Kewat caste, though this restriction is no longer maintained. The +fact may indicate that they are partly descended from the unions of +Kewats with Gond women. + +Adult marriage is the general rule of the caste and a fixed bride-price +of sixteen rupees is paid. The couple go away together at once and six +months afterwards return to visit the bride's parents, when they are +treated as outsiders and not allowed to touch the food cooked for the +family, while they reciprocally insist on preparing their own. Male +Gaurias will take food from any of the higher castes, but the women +will eat only from Gaurias. They will admit outsiders belonging to +any caste from whom they can take food into the community. And if +a Gauria woman goes wrong with a member of any of these castes they +overlook the matter and inflict only a feast as a penalty. + +Their marriage ceremony consists merely in the placing of bangles +on the woman's wrists, which is the form by which a widow is married +among other castes. If a widow marries a man other than her husband's +younger brother, the new husband must pay twelve rupees to her first +husband's family, or to her parents if she has returned to them. If +she takes with her a child born of her first husband with permission +to keep it, the second husband must pay eight rupees to the first +husband's family as the price of the child. But if the child is to be +returned as soon as it is able to shift for itself the second husband +receives eight rupees instead of paying it, as remuneration for his +trouble in rearing the baby. The caste bury their dead with the feet +to the south, like the Hindus. The principal business of the Gaurias +is to catch and exhibit snakes, and they carry a damru or rattle in +the shape of an hour-glass, which is considered to be a distinctive +badge of the caste. If a Gauria saw an Ojha snake-charmer carrying +a damru he would consider himself entitled to take it from the Ojha +forcibly if he could. A Gauria is forbidden to exhibit monkeys under +penalty of being put out of caste. Their principal festival is the +Nag-Panchmi, when the cobra is worshipped. They also profess to know +charms for curing persons bitten by snakes. The following incantation +is cried by a Gauria snake-doctor three times into the ears of his +patient in a loud voice: + +"The bel tree and the bel leaves are on the other side of the +river. All the Gaurias are drowned in it. The breast of the koil; +over it is a net. Eight snakes went to the forest. They tamed rats +on the green tree. The snakes are flying, causing the parrots to +fly. They want to play, but who can make them play? After finishing +their play they stood up; arise thou also, thou sword. I am waking you +(the patient) up by crying in your ear, I conjure you by the name of +Dhanvantari [22] to rise carefully." + +Similar meaningless charms are employed for curing the bites of +scorpions and for exorcising bad spirits and the influence of the +evil eye. + +The Gaurias will eat almost all kinds of flesh, including pigs, rats, +fowls and jackals, but they abstain from beef. Their social status is +so low that practically no caste will take food or water from them, +but they are not considered as impure. They are great drunkards, +and are easily known by their damrus or rattles and the baskets in +which they carry their snakes. + + + + + + +GHASIA + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. Description of the caste. + 2. Subcastes. + 3. Exogamous sections. + 4. Marriage. + 5. Religion and superstitions. + 6. Occupation. + 7. Social customs. + 8. Ghasias and Kayasths. + + + + +1. Description of the caste. + +Ghasia, Sais. [23]--A low Dravidian caste of Orissa and Central +India who cut grass, tend horses and act as village musicians at +festivals. In the Central Provinces they numbered 43,000 in 1911, +residing principally in the Chhattisgarh Division and the adjoining +Feudatory States. The word Ghasia is derived from ghas (grass) and +means a grass-cutter. Sir H. Risley states that they are a fishing +and cultivating caste of Chota Nagpur and Central India, who attend as +musicians at weddings and festivals and also perform menial offices of +all kinds. [24] In Bastar they are described as an inferior caste who +serve as horse-keepers and also make and mend brass vessels. They dress +like the Maria Gonds and subsist partly by cultivation and partly by +labour. [25] Dr. Ball describes them in Singhbhum as gold-washers and +musicians. Colonel Dalton speaks of them as "An extraordinary tribe, +foul parasites of the Central Indian hill tribes and submitting to be +degraded even by them. If the Chandals of the Puranas, though descended +from the union of a Brahmini and a Sudra, are the lowest of the low, +the Ghasias are Chandals and the people further south who are called +Pariahs are no doubt of the same distinguished lineage." [26] + + + + +2. Subcastes. + +The Ghasias generally, however, appear now to be a harmless caste +of labourers without any specially degrading or repulsive traits. In +Mandla their social position and customs are much on a par with those +of the Gonds, from whom a considerable section of the caste seems +to be derived. In other localities they have probably immigrated +into the Central Provinces from Bundelkhand and Orissa. Among their +subdivisions the following may be mentioned: the Udia, who cure raw +hides and do the work of sweepers and are generally looked down on; +the Dingkuchia, who castrate cattle and ponies; the Dolboha, who carry +dhoolies or palanquins; the Nagarchi, who derive their name from the +nakkara or kettle-drum and are village musicians; the Khaltaha or those +from Raipur; the Laria, belonging to Chhattisgarh, and the Uria of +the Uriya country; the Ramgarhia, who take their name from Ramgarh in +the Mandla District, and the Mahobia from Mahoba in Bundelkhand. Those +members of the caste who work as grooms have become a separate group +and call themselves Sais, dropping the name of Ghasia. They rank +higher than the others and marry among themselves, and some of them +have become cultivators or work as village watchmen. They are also +called Thanwar by the Gonds, the word meaning stable or stall. In +Chota Nagpur a number of Ghasias have become tailors and are tending +to form a separate subcaste under the name of Darzi. + + + + +3. Exogamous sections. + +Their septs are of the usual low-caste type, being named after animals, +inanimate objects or nicknames of ancestors. One of them is Panch-biha +or 'He who had five wives,' and another Kul-dip or 'The sept of the +lamp.' Members of this sept will stop eating if a lamp goes out. The +Janta Ragda take their name from the mill for grinding corn and will +not have a grinding-mill in their houses. They say that a female +ancestor was delivered of a child when sitting near a grinding-mill +and this gave the sept its name. Three septs are named after other +castes: Kumharbans, descended from a potter; Gandbans, from a Ganda; +and Luha, from a Lohar or blacksmith, and which names indicate that +members of these castes have been admitted into the community. + + + + +4. Marriage. + +Marriage is forbidden within the sept, but is permitted between the +children of brothers and sisters. Those members of the caste who have +become Kabirpanthis may also marry with the others. Marriages may +be infant or adult. A girl who is seduced by a member of the caste +is married to him by a simple ceremony, the couple standing before a +twig of the umar [27] tree, while some women sprinkle turmeric over +them. If a girl goes wrong with an outsider she is permanently expelled +and a feast is exacted from her parents. The boy and his relatives +go to the girl's house for the betrothal, and a present of various +articles of food and dress is made to her family, apparently as a sort +of repayment for their expenditure in feeding and clothing her. A +gift of clothes is also made to her mother, called dudh-sari, and +is regarded as the price of the milk with which the mother nourished +the girl in her infancy. A goat, which forms part of the bride-price, +is killed and eaten by the parties and their relatives. The binding +portion of the marriage is the bhanwar ceremony, at which the couple +walk seven times round the marriage-post, holding each other by the +little fingers. When they return to the bridegroom's house, a cock or +a goat is killed and the head buried before the door; the foreheads of +the couple are marked with its blood and they go inside the house. If +the bride is not adult, she goes home after a stay of two days, +and the gauna or going-away ceremony is performed when she finally +leaves her parents' house. The remarriage of widows is permitted, +no restriction being imposed on the widow in her choice of a second +husband. Divorce is permitted for infidelity on the part of the wife. + + + + +5. Religion and superstitions. + +Children are named on the sixth day after birth, special names being +given to avert ill-luck, while they sometimes go through the ceremony +of selling a baby for five cowries in order to disarm the jealousy +of the godlings who are hostile to children. They will not call any +person by name when they think an owl is within hearing, as they +believe that the owl will go on repeating the name and that this +will cause the death of the person bearing it. The caste generally +revere Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, whose altar stands near the +cooking place, and the goddess Devi. Once in three years they offer +a white goat to Bura Deo, the great god of the Gonds. They worship +the sickle, the implement of their trade, at Dasahra, and offer +cocoanuts and liquor to Ghasi Sadhak, a godling who lives by the peg +to which horses are tied in the stable. He is supposed to protect +the horse from all kinds of diseases. At Dasahra they also worship +the horse. Their principal festival is called Karma and falls on the +eleventh day of the second half of Bhadon (August). On this day they +bring a branch of a tree from the forest and worship it with betel, +areca-nut and other offerings. All through the day and night the men +and women drink and dance together. They both burn and bury the dead, +throwing the ashes into water. For the first three days after a death +they set out rice and pulse and water in a leaf cup for the departed +spirit. They believe that the ghosts of the dead haunt the living, +and to cure a person possessed in this manner they beat him with +shoes and then bury an effigy of the ghost outside the village. + + + + +6. Occupation. + +The Ghasias usually work as grass-cutters and grooms to horses, and +some of them make loom-combs for weavers. These last are looked down +upon and called Madarchawa. They make the kunch or brushes for the +loom, like the Kuchbandhias, from the root of the babai or khas-khas +grass, and the rachh or comb for arranging the threads on the loom +from the stalks of the bharru grass. Other Ghasias make ordinary hair +combs from the kathai, a grass which grows densely on the borders +of streams and springs. The frame of the comb is of bamboo and the +teeth are fixed in either by thread or wire, the price being one pice +(farthing) in the former case and two in the latter. + + + + +7. Social customs. + +The caste admit outsiders by a disgusting ceremony in which the +candidate is shaved with urine and forced to eat a mixture of +cowdung, basil leaves, dub [28] grass and water in which a piece of +silver or gold has been dipped. The women do not wear the choli or +breast-cloth nor the nose-ring, and in some localities they do not +have spangles on the forehead. Women are tattooed on various parts +of the body before marriage with the idea of enhancing their beauty, +and sometimes tattooing is resorted to for curing a pain in some +joint or for rheumatism. A man who is temporarily put out of caste +is shaved on readmission, and in the case of a woman a lock of her +hair is cut. To touch a dead cow is one of the offences entailing +temporary excommunication. They employ a Brahman only to fix the dates +of their marriages. The position of the caste is very low and in some +places they are considered as impure. The Ghasias are very poor, and +a saying about them is 'Ghasia ki jindagi hasia', or 'The Ghasia is +supported by his sickle,' the implement used for cutting grass. The +Ghasias are perhaps the only caste in the Central Provinces outside +those commonly returning themselves as Mehtar, who consent to do +scavenger's work in some localities. + + + + +8. Ghasias and Kayasths. + +The caste have a peculiar aversion to Kayasths and will not take food +or water from them nor touch a Kayasth's bedding or clothing. They +say that they would not serve a Kayasth as horse-keeper, but if by +any chance one of them was reduced to doing so, he at any rate would +not hold his master's stirrup for him to mount. To account for this +hereditary enmity they tell the following story: + +On one occasion the son of the Kayasth minister of the Raja of Ratanpur +went out for a ride followed by a Ghasia sais (groom). The boy was +wearing costly ornaments, and the Ghasia's cupidity being excited, +he attacked and murdered the child, stripped him of his ornaments and +threw the body down a well. The murder was discovered and in revenge +the minister killed every Ghasia, man, woman or child that he could +lay his hands on. The only ones who escaped were two pregnant women +who took refuge in the hut of a Ganda and were sheltered by him. To +them were born a boy and a girl and the present Ghasias are descended +from the pair. Therefore a Ghasia will eat even the leavings of a +Ganda but will accept nothing from the hands of a Kayasth. + +This story is an instance of the process which has been called the +transplantation of myth. Sir H. Risley tells a similar legend of the +Ghasias of Orissa, [29] but in their case it was a young Kayasth +bridegroom who was killed, and before dying he got leave from his +murderers to write a letter to his relatives informing them of his +death, on condition that he said nothing as to its manner. But in the +letter he disclosed the murder, and the Ghasias, who could not read, +were duly brought to justice. In the Ratanpur story as reported from +Bilaspur it was stated that "Somehow, even from down the well, the +minister's son managed to get a letter sent to his father telling him +of the murder." And this sentence seems sufficient to establish the +fact that the Central Provinces story has merely been imported from +Orissa and slightly altered to give it local colour. The real reason +for the traditional aversion felt by the Ghasias and other low castes +for the Kayasths will be discussed in the article on that caste. + + +Ghosi + + +Ghosi. [30]--A caste of herdsmen belonging to northern India and +found in the Central Provinces in Saugor and other Districts of the +Jubbulpore and Nerbudda Divisions. In 1911 they numbered 10,000 persons +in this Province out of a strength of about 60,000 in India. The +name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit root ghush, to shout, +the word ghosha meaning one who shouts as he herds his cattle. A +noticeable fact about the caste is that, while in Upper India they +are all Muhammadans--and it is considered to be partly on account of +the difference in religion that they have become differentiated into +a separate caste from the Ahirs--in the Central Provinces they are +nearly all Hindus and show no trace of Muhammadan practices. A few +Muhammadan Ghosis are found in Nimar and some Muhammadans who call +themselves Gaddi in Mandla are believed to be Ghosis. And as the +Ghosis of the northern Districts of the Central Provinces must in +common with the bulk of the population be descended from immigrants +from northern India, it would appear that they must have changed +their religion, or rather abandoned one to which their ancestors +had only been imperfectly proselytised, when it was no longer the +dominant faith of the locality in which they lived. Sir D. Ibbetson +says that in the Punjab the name Ghosi is used only for Muhammadans, +and is often applied to any cowherd or milkman of that religion, +whether Gujar, Ahir or of any other caste, just as Goala is used for +a Hindu cowherd. It is said that Hindus will buy pure milk from the +Musalman Ghosi, but will reject it if there is any suspicion of its +having been watered by the latter, as they must not drink water at +his hands. [31] But in Berar Brahmans will now buy milk and curds +from Muhammadan milkmen. Mr. Crooke remarks that most of the Ghosis +are Ahirs who have been converted to Islam. To the east of the United +Provinces they claim a Gujar origin, and here they will not eat beef +themselves nor take food with any Muhammadans who consume it. They +employ Brahmans to fix the auspicious times for marriage and other +ceremonies. The Ghosis of Lucknow have no other employment but the +keeping of milch cattle, chiefly buffaloes of all kinds, and they +breed buffaloes. [32] This is the case also in Saugor, where the +Ghosis are said to rank below ordinary Ahirs because they breed and +tend buffaloes instead of cows. Those of Narsinghpur, however, are +generally not herdsmen at all but ordinary cultivators. In northern +India, owing to the large number of Muhammadans who, other things being +equal, would prefer to buy their milk and ghi from co-religionists, +there would be an opening for milkmen professing this faith, and on +the facts stated above it may perhaps be surmised that the Ghosi +caste came into existence to fill the position. Or they may have +been forcibly converted as a number of Ahirs in Berar were forcibly +converted to Islam, and still call themselves Muhammadans, though they +can scarcely repeat the Kalma and only go to mosque once a year. [33] +But when some of the Ghosis migrated into the Central Provinces, +they would find, in the absence of a Musalman clientele, that their +religion, instead of being an advantage, was a positive drawback to +them, as Hindus would be reluctant to buy milk from a Muhammadan who +might be suspected of having mixed it with water; and it would appear +that they have relapsed naturally into Hinduism, all traces of their +profession of Islam being lost. Even so, however, in Narsinghpur they +have had to abandon their old calling and become ordinary cultivators, +while in Saugor, perhaps on account of their doubtful status, they +are restricted to keeping buffaloes. If this suggestion turned out +to be well founded, it would be an interesting instance of a religion +being changed to secure a professional advantage. But it can only be +considered as a guess. A parallel to the disadvantage of being unable +to water their milk without rendering it impure, which attaches to the +Ghosis of the Punjab, may be adduced in the case of the Telis of the +small town of Multai in Betul District. Here the dairyman's business +is for some reason in the hands of Telis (oilmen) and it is stated that +from every Teli who engages in it a solemn oath is exacted that he will +not put water in the milk, and any violation of this would be punished +by expulsion from caste. Because if the Hindus once found that they +had been rendered impure by drinking water touched by so low a caste +as the Telis, they would decline any longer to purchase milk from +them. It is curious that the strict rule of ceremonial purity which +obtains in the case of water has apparently no application to milk. + +In the Central Provinces the Ghosis have two subcastes, the Havelia or +those living in open wheat country, and the Birchheya or residents +of jungle tracts. In Saugor they have another set of divisions +borrowed from the Ahirs, and here the Muhammadan Ghosis are said to +be a separate subcaste, though practically none were returned at the +census. They have the usual system of exogamous groups with territorial +names derived from those of villages. At their marriages the couple +walk six times round the sacred post, reserving the seventh round, if +the bride is a child, to be performed subsequently when she goes to +her husband. But if she is adult, the full number may be completed, +the ceremony known as lot pata coming between the sixth and seventh +rounds. In this the bride sits first on the right of her husband and +then changes seats so as to be on his left; and she is thus considered +to become joined to her husband as the left part of his body, which +the Hindus consider the wife to be, holding the same belief as that +expressed in Genesis. After this the bride takes some child of the +household into her lap and then makes it over to the bridegroom saying, +'Take care of the baby while I go and do the household work.' This +ceremony, which has been recorded also of the Kapus in Chanda, is +obviously designed as an auspicious omen that the marriage may be +blessed with children. Like other castes of their standing, the Ghosis +permit polygamy, divorce and the remarriage of widows, but the practice +of taking two wives is rare. The dead are burnt, with the exception +that the bodies of young children whose ears have not been pierced +and of persons dying of smallpox are buried. Children usually have +their ears pierced when they are three or four years old. A corpse +must not be taken to the pyre at night, as it is thought that in +that case it would be born blind in the next birth. The caste have +bards and genealogists of their own who are known as Patia. In Damoh +the Ghosis are mainly cart-drivers and cultivators and very few of +them sell milk. In Nimar there are some Muhammadan Ghosis who deal in +milk. Their women are not secluded and may be known by the number of +little rings worn in the ear after the Muhammadan custom. Like the +Ahirs, the Ghosis are considered to be somewhat stupid. They call +themselves Ghosi Thakur, as they claim to be Rajputs, and outsiders +also sometimes address them as Thakur. But in Sangor and Damoh these +aspirations to Kshatriya rank are so widespread that when one person +asks another his caste the usual form of the question is 'What Thakur +are you?' The questioner thus politely assumes that his companion +must be a Rajput of some sort and leaves it to him to admit or deny +the soft impeachment. Another form of this question is to say 'What +dudh, or milk, are you?' + + + +Golar + +Golar, [34] Gollam, Golla, Gola, Golkar.--The great shepherd caste +of the Telugu country, which numbers nearly 1 1/2 million of persons +in Madras and Hyderabad. In the Central Provinces there were under +3000 Golars in 1901, and they were returned principally from the +Balaghat and Seoni Districts. But 2500 Golkars, who belonged to +Chanda and were classified under Ahirs in 1901, may, in view of +the information now available, be considered to belong to the Golar +caste. Some 2000 Golars were enumerated in Berar. They are a nomadic +people and frequent Balaghat, owing to the large area of grazing +land found in the District. The caste come from the south and speak +a dialect of Canarese. Hindus liken the conversation of two Golars to +two cocks crowing at each other. [35] They seem to have no subcastes +except that in Chanda the Yera and Nana, or black and white Golkars, +are distinguished. Marriage is regulated by the ordinary system +of exogamous groups, but no meaning can be assigned to the names +of these. In Seoni they say that their group-names are the same as +those of the Gonds, and that they are related to this great tribe; +but though both are no doubt of the same Dravidian stock, there is no +reason for supposing any closer affinity to exist, and the statement +may be explained by the fact that Golars frequently reside in Gond +villages in the forest; and in accordance with a practice commonly +found among village communities the fiction of relationship has grown +up. The children of brothers and sisters are allowed to marry, but not +those of two sisters, the reason stated for this prohibition being that +during the absence of the mother her sister nurses her children; the +children of sisters are therefore often foster brothers and sisters, +and this is considered as equivalent to the real relationship. But +the marriage of a brother's son to a sister's daughter is held, +as among the Gonds, to be a most suitable union. The adult marriage +of girls involves no stigma, and the practice of serving for a wife +is sometimes followed. Weddings may not be held during the months of +Shrawan, Bhadon, Kunwar and Pus. The marriage altar is made of dried +cowdung plastered over with mud, in honour perhaps of the animal which +affords the Golars their livelihood. The clothes of the bridegroom +and bride are knotted together and they walk five times round the +altar. In Bhandara the marriages of Golars are celebrated both at +the bride's house and the bridegroom's. The bridegroom rides on a +horse, and on arrival at the marriage-shed is presented by his future +mother-in-law with a cup of milk. The bride and bridegroom sit on a +platform together, and each gets up and sits down nine times, whoever +accomplishes this first being considered to have won. The bridegroom +then takes the bride's little finger in his hand and they walk nine +times round the platform. He afterwards falls at the girl's feet, and +standing up carries her inside the house, where they eat together out +of one dish. After three days the party proceeds to the bridegroom's +house, where the same ceremonies are gone through. Here the family +barbers of the bride and bridegroom take the couple up in their arms +and dance, holding them, and all the party dance too. The remarriage of +widows is permitted, a sum of Rs. 25 being usually paid to the parents +of the woman by her second husband. Divorce may be effected at the +option of either party, and documents are usually drawn up on both +sides. The Golars worship Mahadeo and have a special deity, Hularia, +who protects their cattle from disease and wild beasts. A clay image +of Hularia is erected outside the village every five or ten years and +goats are offered to it. Each head of a family is supposed to offer +on the first occasion two goats, and on the second and subsequent +ones, five, seven, nine and twelve goats respectively. But when a +man dies his son starts afresh with an offering of two. The flesh +of the animals offered is consumed by the caste-fellows. The name +Hularia Deo has some connection with the Holias, a low Telugu caste +of leather-workers to whom the Golars appear to be related, as they +have the same family names. When a Golar dies a plate of cooked rice +is laid on his body and then carried to the burning-ghat. The Holias +belonging to the same section go with it, and before arrival the plate +of rice is laid on the ground and the Holias eat it. The Golars have +various superstitions, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays they +will not give salt, fire, milk or water to any one. They usually burn +the dead, the corpse being laid with the head to the south, though +in some localities the Hindu custom of placing the head to the north +has been adopted. They employ Brahmans for religious and ceremonial +purposes. The occupation of the caste is to breed and tend buffaloes +and cattle, and they also deal in live-stock, and sell milk, curds and +ghi. They were formerly addicted to dacoity and cattle-theft. They have +a caste panchayat, the head of which is designated as Mokasi. Formerly +the Mokasi received Rs. 15 on the marriage of a widow, and Rs. 5 when +a person temporarily outcasted was readmitted to social intercourse, +but these payments are now only occasionally made. The caste drink +liquor and eat flesh, including pigs and fowls, but not beef. They +employ Brahmans for ceremonial purposes, but their social status is +low and they are practically on a level with the Dravidian tribes. The +dialect of Canarese spoken by the Golars is known as Golari, Holia +or Komtau, and is closely related to the form which that language +assumes in Bijapur; [36] but to outsiders they now speak Hindi. + + + + + + +GOND + + +[Bibliography.--The most important account of the Gond tribe is that +contained in the Rev. Stephen Hislop's Papers on the Aboriginal +Tribes of the Central Provinces, published after his death by +Sir R. Temple in 1866. Mr. Hislop recorded the legend of Lingo, +of which an abstract has been reproduced. Other notices of the +Gonds are contained in the ninth volume of General Cunningham's +Archaeological Survey Reports, Sir C. Grant's Central Provinces +Gazetteer of 1871 (Introduction), Colonel Ward's Mandla Settlement +Report (1868), Colonel Lucie Smith's Chanda Settlement Report +(1870), and Mr. C. W. Montgomerie's Chhindwara Settlement Report +(1900). An excellent monograph on the Bastar Gonds was contributed +by Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath, Superintendent of the State, and +other monographs by Mr. A. E. Nelson, C.S., Mandla; Mr. Ganga Prasad +Khatri, Forest Divisional Officer, Betul; Mr. J. Langhorne, Manager, +Ahiri zamindari, Chanda; Mr. R. S. Thakur, tahsildar, Balaghat; and +Mr. Din Dayal, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Nandgaon State. Papers were +also furnished by the Rev. A. Wood of Chanda; the Rev. H. J. Molony, +Mandla; and Major W. D. Sutherland, I.M.S., Saugor. Notes were also +collected by the writer in Mandla. Owing to the inclusion of many +small details from the different papers it has not been possible to +acknowledge them separately.] + + + +List of Paragraphs + + +(a) Origin and History + + 1. Numbers and distribution. + 2. Gondwana. + 3. Derivation of name and origin of the Gonds. + 4. History of the Gonds. + 5. Mythical traditions. Story of Lingo. + 6. Legend of the creation. + 7. Creation of the Gonds and their imprisonment by Mahadeo. + 8. The birth and history of Lingo. + 9. Death and resurrection of Lingo. +10. He releases the Gonds shut up in the cave and constitutes the tribe. + + +(b) Tribal Subdivisions + +11. Subcastes. +12. Exogamy. +13. Totemism. +14. Connection of totemism with the gods. + + +(c) Marriage Customs + +15. Prohibitions on intermarriage, and unions of relations. +16. Irregular marriages. +17. Marriage. Arrangement of matches. +18. The marriage ceremony. +19. Wedding expenditure. +20. Special customs. +21. Taking omens. +22. Marriage by capture. Weeping and hiding. +23. Serving for a wife. +24. Widow remarriage. +25. Divorce. +26. Polygamy. + + +(d) Birth and Pregnancy + +27. Menstruation. +28. Superstitions about pregnancy and childbirth. +29. Procedure at a birth. +30. Names. +31. Superstitions about children. + + +(e) Funeral Rites + +32. Disposal of the dead. +33. Funeral ceremony. +34. Mourning and offerings to the dead. +35. Memorial stones to the dead. +36. House abandoned after a death. +37. Bringing back the soul. +38. The dead absorbed in Bura Deo. +39. Belief in a future life. + + +(f) Religion + +40. Nature of the Gond religion. The gods. +41. Tribal gods, and their place of residence. +42. Household gods. +43. Nag Deo. +44. Narayan Deo. +45. Bura Deo. +46. Charms and magic. +47. Omens. +48. Agricultural superstitions. +49. Magical or religious observances in fishing and hunting. +50. Witchcraft. +51. Human sacrifice. +52. Cannibalism. +53. Festivals. The new crops. +54. The Holi Festival. +55. The Meghnath swinging rite. +56. The Karma and other rites. + + +(g) Appearance and Character and Social Rules and Customs + +57. Physical type. +58. Character. +59. Shyness and ignorance. +60. Villages and houses. +61. Clothes and ornaments. +62. Ear-piercing. +63. Hair. +64. Bathing and washing clothes. +65. Tattooing. +66. Special system of tattooing. +67. Branding. +68. Food. +69. Liquor. +70. Admission of outsiders and sexual morality. +71. Common sleeping-houses. +72. Methods of greeting and observances between relatives. +73. The caste panchayat and social offences. +74. Caste penalty feasts. +75. Special purification ceremony. +76. Dancing. +77. Songs. +78. Language. + + +(h) Occupation + +79. Cultivation. +80. Patch cultivation. +81. Hunting. Traps for animals. + + + + +(a) Origin and History + + +1. Numbers and distribution. + +Gond.--The principal tribe of the Dravidian family, and perhaps +the most important of the non-Aryan or forest tribes in India. In +1911 the Gonds were three million strong, and they are increasing +rapidly. The Kolis of western India count half a million persons +more than the Gonds, and if the four related tribes Kol, Munda, Ho, +and Santal were taken together, they would be stronger by about the +same amount. But if historical importance be considered as well as +numbers, the first place should be awarded to the Gonds. Of the whole +caste the Central Provinces contain 2,300,000 persons, Central India, +and Bihar and Orissa about 235,000 persons each, and they are returned +in small numbers from Assam, Madras and Hyderabad. The 50,000 Gonds +in Assam are no doubt immigrant labourers on the tea-gardens. + + + + +2. Gondwana. + +In the Central Provinces the Gonds occupy two main tracts. The first +is the wide belt of broken hill and forest country in the centre of +the Province, which forms the Satpura plateau, and is mainly comprised +in the Chhindwara, Betul, Seoni and Mandla Districts, with portions +of several others adjoining them. And the second is the still wider +and more inaccessible mass of hill ranges extending south of the +Chhattisgarh plain, and south-west down to the Godavari, which includes +portions of the three Chhattisgarh Districts, the Bastar and Kanker +States, and a great part of Chanda. In Mandla the Gonds form nearly +half the population, and in Bastar about two-thirds. There is, however, +no District or State of the Province which does not contain some Gonds, +and it is both on account of their numbers and the fact that Gond +dynasties possessed a great part of its area that the territory of the +Central Provinces was formerly known as Gondwana, or the country of +the Gonds. [37] The existing importance of the Central Provinces dates +from recent years, for so late as 1853 it was stated before the Royal +Asiatic Society that "at present the Gondwana highlands and jungles +comprise such a large tract of unexplored country that they form quite +an oasis in our maps." So much of this lately unexplored country as +is British territory is now fairly well served by railways, traversed +almost throughout by good roads, and provided with village schools +at distances of five to ten miles apart, even in the wilder tracts. + + + + +3. Derivation of name and origin of the Gonds. + +The derivation of the word Gond is uncertain. It is the name given +to the tribe by the Hindus or Muhammadans, as their own name for +themselves is Koitur or Koi. General Cunningham considered that the +name Gond probably came from Gauda, the classical term for part of +the United Provinces and Bengal. A Benares inscription relating to one +of the Chedi kings of Tripura or Tewar (near Jubbulpore) states that +he was of the Haihaya tribe, who lived on the borders of the Nerbudda +in the district of the Western Gauda in the Province of Malwa. Three +or four other inscriptions also refer to the kings of Gauda in the +same locality. Gauda, however, was properly and commonly used as the +name of part of Bengal. There is no evidence beyond a few doubtful +inscriptions of its having ever been applied to any part of the +Central Provinces. The principal passage in which General Cunningham +identifies Gauda with the Central Provinces is that in which the king +of Gauda came to the assistance of the ruler of Malwa against the +king of Kanauj, elder brother of the great Harsha Vardhana, and slew +the latter king in A.D. 605. But Mr. V. A. Smith holds that Gauda +in this passage refers to Bengal and not to the Central Provinces; +[38] and General Cunningham's argument on the locality of Gauda is +thus rendered extremely dubious, and with it his derivation of the +name Gond. In fact it seems highly improbable that the name of a large +tribe should have been taken from a term so little used and known in +this special application. Though in the Imperial Gazetteer [39] the +present writer reproduced General Cunningham's derivation of the term +Gond, it was there characterised as speculative, and in the light of +the above remarks now seems highly improbable. Mr. Hislop considered +that the name Gond was a form of Kond, as he spelt the name of the +Khond tribe. He pointed out that k and g are interchangeable. Thus +Gotalghar, the empty house where the village young men sleep, comes +from Kotal, a led horse, and ghar, a house. Similarly, Koikopal, +the name of a Gond subtribe who tend cattle, is from Koi or Gond, +and gopal, a cowherd. The name by which the Gonds call themselves +is Koi or Koitur, while the Khonds call themselves Ku, which word +Sir G. Grierson considers to be probably related to the Gond name +Koi. Further, he states that the Telugu people call the Khonds, Gond +or Kod (Kor). General Cunningham points out that the word Gond in the +Central Provinces is frequently or, he says, usually pronounced Gaur, +which is practically the same sound as god, and with the change +of G to K would become Kod. Thus the two names Gond and Kod, by +which the Telugu people know the Khonds, are practically the same +as the names Gond and God of the Gonds in the Central Provinces, +though Sir G. Grierson does not mention the change of g to k in +his account of either language. It seems highly probable that the +designation Gond was given to the tribe by the Telugus. The Gonds +speak a Dravidian language of the same family as Tamil, Canarese +and Telugu, and therefore it is likely that they come from the south +into the Central Provinces. Their route may have been up the Godavari +river into Chanda; from thence up the Indravati into Bastar and the +hills south and east of the Chhattisgarh plain; and up the Wardha and +Wainganga to the Districts of the Satpura Plateau. In Chanda, where +a Gond dynasty reigned for some centuries, they would be in contact +with the Telugus, and here they may have got their name of Gond, +and carried it with them into the north and east of the Province. As +already seen, the Khonds are called Gond by the Telugus, and Kandh +by the Uriyas. The Khonds apparently came up more towards the east +into Ganjam and Kalahandi. Here the name of Gond or Kod, given them +by the Telugus, may have been modified into Kandh by the Uriyas, +and from the two names came the English corruption of Khond. The +Khond and Gondi languages are now dissimilar. Still they present +certain points of resemblance, and though Sir G. Grierson does not +discuss their connection, it appears from his highly interesting +genealogical tree of the Dravidian languages that Khond or Kui and +Gondi are closely connected. These two languages, and no others, occupy +an intermediate position between the two great branches sprung from +the original Dravidian language, one of which is mainly represented +by Telugu and the other by Tamil, Canarese and Malayalam. [40] Gondi +and Khond are shown in the centre as the connecting link between the +two great branches. Gondi is more nearly related to Tamil and Khond to +Telugu. On the Telugu side, moreover, Khond approaches most closely +to Kolami, which is a member of the Telugu branch. The Kolams are a +tribe of Wardha and Berar, sometimes considered an offshoot of the +Gonds; at any rate, it seems probable that they came from southern +India by the same route as the Gonds. Thus the Khond language is +intermediate between Gondi and the Kolami dialect of Wardha and Berar, +though the Kolams live west of the Gonds and the Khonds east. And a +fairly close relationship between the three languages appears to be +established. Hence the linguistic evidence appears to afford strong +support to the view that the Khonds and Gonds may originally have +been one tribe. Further, Mr. Hislop points out that a word for god, +pen, is common to the Gonds and Khonds; and the Khonds have a god +called Bura Pen, who might be the same as Bura Deo, the great god +of the Gonds. Mr. Hislop found Kodo Pen and Pharsi Pen as Gond gods, +[41] while Pen or Pennu is the regular word for god among the +Khonds. This evidence seems to establish a probability that the +Gonds and Khonds were originally one tribe in the south of India, +and that they obtained separate names and languages since they left +their original home for the north. The fact that both of them speak +languages of the Dravidian family, whose home is in southern India, +makes it probable that the two tribes originally belonged there, and +migrated north into the Central Provinces and Orissa. This hypothesis +is supported by the traditions of the Gonds. + + + + +4. History of the Gonds. + +As stated in the article on Kol, it is known that Rajput dynasties +were ruling in various parts of the Central Provinces from about the +sixth to the twelfth centuries. They then disappear, and there is a +blank till the fourteenth century or later, when Gond kingdoms are +found established at Kherla in Betul, at Deogarh in Chhindwara, at +Garha-Mandla, [42] including the Jubbulpore country, and at Chanda, +fourteen miles from Bhandak. It seems clear, then, that the Hindu +dynasties were subverted by the Gonds after the Muhammadan invasions +of northern India had weakened or destroyed the central powers of the +Hindus, and prevented any assistance being afforded to the outlying +settlements. There is some reason to suppose that the immigration of +the Gonds into the Central Provinces took place after the establishment +of these Hindu kingdoms, and not before, as is commonly held. [43] +But the point must at present be considered doubtful. There is no +reason however to doubt that the Gonds came from the south through +Chanda and Bastar. During the fourteenth century and afterwards the +Gonds established dynasties at the places already mentioned in the +Central Provinces. For two or three centuries the greater part of the +Province was governed by Gond kings. Of their method of government in +Narsinghpur, Sleeman said: "Under these Gond Rajas the country seems +for the most part to have been distributed among feudatory chiefs, +bound to attend upon the prince at his capital with a stipulated +number of troops, to be employed wherever their services might be +required, but to furnish little or no revenue in money. These chiefs +were Gonds, and the countries they held for the support of their +families and the payment of their troops and retinue little more +than wild jungles. The Gonds seem not to have been at home in open +country, and as from the sixteenth century a peaceable penetration of +Hindu cultivators into the best lands of the Province assumed large +dimensions, the Gonds gradually retired to the hill ranges on the +borders of the plains." The headquarters of each dynasty at Mandla, +Garha, Kherla, Deogarh and Chanda seem to have been located in a +position strengthened for defence either by a hill or a great river, +and adjacent to an especially fertile plain tract, whose produce +served for the maintenance of the ruler's household and headquarters +establishment. Often the site was on other sides bordered by dense +forest which would afford a retreat to the occupants in case it fell +to an enemy. Strong and spacious forts were built, with masonry tanks +and wells inside them to provide water, but whether these buildings +were solely the work of the Gonds or constructed with the assistance of +Hindu or Muhammadan artificers is uncertain. But the Hindu immigrants +found Gond government tolerant and beneficent. Under the easy eventless +sway of these princes the rich country over which they ruled prospered, +its flocks and herds increased, and the treasury filled. So far back +as the fifteenth century we read in Firishta that the king of Kherla, +who, if not a Gond himself, was a king of the Gonds, sumptuously +entertained the Bahmani king and made him rich offerings, among +which were many diamonds, rubies and pearls. Of the Rani Durgavati of +Garha-Mandla, Sleeman said: "Of all the sovereigns of this dynasty she +lives most in the page of history and in the grateful recollections +of the people. She built the great reservoir which lies close to +Jubbulpore, and is called after her Rani Talao or Queen's pond; and +many other highly useful works were formed by her about Garha." When +the castle of Chauragarh was sacked by one of Akbar's generals in 1564, +the booty found, according to Firishta, comprised, independently of +jewels, images of gold and silver and other valuables, no fewer than +a hundred jars of gold coin and a thousand elephants. Of the Chanda +rulers the Settlement officer who has recorded their history wrote +that, "They left, if we forget the last few years, a well-governed +and contented kingdom, adorned with admirable works of engineering +skill and prosperous to a point which no aftertime has reached. They +have left their mark behind them in royal tombs, lakes and palaces, +but most of all in the seven miles of battlemented stone wall, too wide +now for the shrunk city of Chanda within it, which stands on the very +border-line between the forest and the plain, having in front the rich +valley of the Wardha river, and behind and up to the city walls deep +forest extending to the east." According to local tradition the great +wall of Chanda and other buildings, such as the tombs of the Gond kings +and the palace at Junona, were built by immigrant Telugu masons of the +Kapu or Munurwar castes. Another excellent rule of the Gond kings was +to give to any one who made a tank a grant of land free of revenue of +the land lying beneath it. A large number of small irrigation tanks +were constructed under this inducement in the Wainganga valley, and +still remain. But the Gond states had no strength for defence, as was +shown when in the eighteenth century Maratha chiefs, having acquired +some knowledge of the art of war and military training by their long +fighting against the Mughals, cast covetous eyes on Gondwana. The +loose tribal system, so easy in time of peace, entirely failed to +knit together the strength of the people when united action was most +required, and the plain country fell before the Maratha armies almost +without a struggle. In the strongholds, however, of the hilly ranges +which hem in every part of Gondwana the chiefs for long continued to +maintain an unequal resistance, and to revenge their own wrongs by +indiscriminate rapine and slaughter. In such cases the Maratha plan +was to continue pillaging and harassing the Gonds until they obtained +an acknowledgment of their supremacy and the promise, at least, of an +annual tribute. Under this treatment the hill Gonds soon lost every +vestige of civilisation, and became the cruel, treacherous savages +depicted by travellers of this period. They regularly plundered and +murdered stragglers and small parties passing through the hills, while +from their strongholds, built on the most inaccessible spurs of the +Satpuras, they would make a dash into the rich plains of Berar and +the Nerbudda valley, and after looting and killing all night, return +straight across country to their jungle fortresses, guided by the light +of a bonfire on some commanding peak. [44] With the pacification of +the country and the introduction of a strong and equable system of +government by the British, these wild marauders soon settled down +and became the timid and inoffensive labourers which they now are. + + + + +5. Mythica traditions. Story of Lingo. + +Mr. Hislop took down from a Pardhan priest a Gond myth of the creation +of the world and the origin of the Gonds, and their liberation from a +cave, in which they had been shut up by Siva, through the divine hero +Lingo. General Cunningham said that the exact position of the cave was +not known, but it would seem to have been somewhere in the Himalayas, +as the name Dhawalgiri, which means a white mountain, is mentioned. The +cave, according to ordinary Gond tradition, was situated in Kachikopa +Lohagarh or the Iron Valley in the Red Hill. It seems clear from the +story itself that its author was desirous of connecting the Gonds +with Hindu mythology, and as Siva's heaven is in the Himalayas, the +name Dhawalgiri, where he located the cave, may refer to them. It +is also said that the cave was at the source of the Jumna. But in +Mr. Hislop's version the cave where all the Gonds except four were +shut up is not in Kachikopa Lohagarh, as the Gonds commonly say; +but only the four Gonds who escaped wandered to this latter place +and dwelt there. And the story does not show that Kachikopa Lohagarh +was on Mount Dhawalgiri or the Himalayas, where it places the cave in +which the Gonds were shut up, or anywhere near them. On the contrary, +it would be quite consonant with Mr. Hislop's version if Kachikopa +Lohagarh were in the Central Provinces. It may be surmised that in the +original Gond legend their ancestors really were shut up in Kachikopa +Lohagarh, but not by the god Siva. Very possibly the story began with +them in the cave in the Iron Valley in the Red Hill. But the Hindu +who clearly composed Mr. Hislop's version wished to introduce the god +Siva as a principal actor, and he therefore removed the site of the +cave to the Himalayas. This appears probable from the story itself, +in which, in its present form, Kachikopa Lohagarh plays no real part, +and only appears because it was in the original tradition and has +to be retained. [45] But the Gonds think that their ancestors were +actually shut up in Kachikopa Lohagarh, and one tradition puts the +site at Pachmarhi, whose striking hill scenery and red soil cleft by +many deep and inaccessible ravines would render it a likely place for +the incident. Another version locates Kachikopa Lohagarh at Darekasa +in Bhandara, where there is a place known as Kachagarh or the iron +fort. But Pachmarhi is perhaps the more probable, as it has some deep +caves, which have always been looked upon as sacred places. The point +is of some interest, because this legend of the cave being in the +Himalayas is adduced as a Gond tradition that their ancestors came +from the north, and hence as supporting the theory of the immigration +of the Dravidians through the north-west of India. But if the view now +suggested is correct, the story of the cave being in the Himalayas is +not a genuine Gond tradition at all, but a Hindu interpolation. The +only other ground known to the writer for asserting that the Gonds +believed their ancestors to have come from the north is that they +bury their dead with the feet to the north. There are other obvious +Hindu accretions in the legend, as the saintly Brahmanic character of +Lingo and his overcoming the gods through fasting and self-torture, +and also the fact that Siva shut up the Gonds in the cave because +he was offended by their dirty habits and bad smell. But the legend +still contains a considerable quantity of true Gond tradition, and +though somewhat tedious, it seems necessary to give an abridgment of +Mr. Hislop's account, with reproduction of selected passages. Captain +Forsyth also made a modernised poetical version, [46] from which one +extract is taken. Certain variations from another form of the legend +obtained in Bastar are included. + + + + +6. Legend of the creation. + +In the beginning there was water everywhere, and God was born in a +lotus-leaf and lived alone. One day he rubbed his arm and from the +rubbing made a crow, which sat on his shoulder; he also made a crab, +which swam out over the waters. God then ordered the crow to fly +over the world and bring some earth. The crow flew about and could +find no earth, but it saw the crab, which was supporting itself with +one leg resting on the bottom of the sea. The crow was very tired +and perched on the crab's back, which was soft so that the crow's +feet made marks on it, which are still visible on the bodies of all +crabs at present. The crow asked the crab where any earth could be +found. The crab said that if God would make its body hard it would +find some earth. God said he would make part of the crab's body hard, +and he made its back hard, as it still remains. The crab then dived +to the bottom of the sea, where it found Kenchna, the earth-worm. It +caught hold of Kenchna by the neck with its claws and the mark thus +made is still to be seen on the earth-worm's neck. Then the earth-worm +brought up earth out of its mouth and the crab brought this to God, +and God scattered it over the sea and patches of land appeared. God +then walked over the earth and a boil came on his hand, and out of +it Mahadeo and Parvati were born. + + + + +7. Creation of the Gonds and their imprisonment by Mahadeo. + +From Mahadeo's urine numerous vegetables began to spring up. Parvati +ate of these and became pregnant and gave birth to eighteen +threshing-floors [47] of Brahman gods and twelve threshing-floors +of Gond gods. All the Gonds were scattered over the jungle. They +behaved like Gonds and not like good Hindus, with lamentable results, +as follows: [48] + + + Hither and thither all the Gonds were scattered in the jungle. + Places, hills, and valleys were filled with these Gonds. + Even trees had their Gonds. How did the Gonds conduct themselves? + Whatever came across them they must needs kill and eat it; + They made no distinction. If they saw a jackal they killed + And ate it; no distinction was observed; they respected not + antelope, sambhar and the like. + They made no distinction in eating a sow, a quail, a pigeon, + A crow, a kite, an adjutant, a vulture, + A lizard, a frog, a beetle, a cow, a calf, a he- and she-buffalo, + Rats, bandicoots, squirrels--all these they killed and ate. + So began the Gonds to do. They devoured raw and ripe things; + They did not bathe for six months together; + They did not wash their faces properly, even on dunghills they + would fall down and remain. + Such were the Gonds born in the beginning. A smell was spread + over the jungle + When the Gonds were thus disorderly behaved; they became + disagreeable to Mahadeva, + Who said: "The caste of the Gonds is very bad; + I will not preserve them; they will ruin my hill Dhawalgiri." + + +Mahadeo then determined to get rid of the Gonds. With this view he +invited them all to a meeting. When they sat down Mahadeo made a +squirrel from the rubbings of his body and let it loose in the middle +of the Gonds. All the Gonds at once got up and began to chase it, +hoping for a meal. They seized sticks and stones and clods of earth, +and their unkempt hair flew in the wind. The squirrel dodged about +and ran away, and finally, directed by Mahadeo, ran into a large cave +with all the Gonds after it. Mahadeo then rolled a large stone to the +mouth of the cave and shut up all the Gonds in it. Only four remained +outside, and they fled away to Kachikopa Lohagarh, or the Iron Cave +in the Red Hill, and lived there. Meanwhile Parvati perceived that +the smell of the Gonds, which had pleased her, had vanished from +Dhawalgiri. She desired it to be restored and commenced a devotion. For +six months she fasted and practised austerities. Bhagwan (God) was +swinging in a swing. He was disturbed by Parvati's devotion. He sent +Narayan (the sun) to see who was fasting. Narayan came and found +Parvati and asked her what she wanted. She said that she missed her +Gonds and wanted them back. Narayan told Bhagwan, who promised that +they should be given back. + + +8. The birth and history of Lingo. + +The yellow flowers of the tree Pahindi were growing on +Dhawalgiri. Bhagwan sent thunder and lightning, and the flower +conceived. First fell from it a heap of turmeric or saffron. In +the morning the sun came out, the flower burst open, and Lingo was +born. Lingo was a perfect child. He had a diamond on his navel and +a sandalwood mark on his forehead. He fell from the flower into the +heap of turmeric. He played in the turmeric and slept in a swing. He +became nine years old. He said there was no one there like him, and +he would go where he could find his fellows. He climbed a needle-like +hill, [49] and from afar off he saw Kachikopa Lohagarh and the four +Gonds. He came to them. They saw he was like them, and asked him to +be their brother. They ate only animals. Lingo asked them to find +for him an animal without a liver, and they searched all through the +forest and could not. Then Lingo told them to cut down trees and make +a field. They tried to cut down the anjan [50] trees, but their hands +were blistered and they could not go on. Lingo had been asleep. He +woke up and saw they had only cut down one or two trees. He took the +axe and cut down many trees, and fenced a field and made a gate to +it. Black soil appeared. It began to rain, and rained without ceasing +for three days. All the rivers and streams were filled. The field +became green with rice, and it grew up. There were sixteen score +of nilgai or blue-bull. They had two leaders, an old bull and his +nephew. The young bull saw the rice of Lingo's field and wished to +eat it. The uncle told him not to eat of the field of Lingo or all +the nilgai would be killed. But the young bull did not heed, and took +off all the nilgai to eat the rice. When they got to the field they +could find no entrance, so they jumped the fence, which was five cubits +high. They ate all the rice from off the field and ran away. The young +bull told them as they ran to put their feet on leaves and stones and +boughs and grass, and not on the ground, so that they might not be +tracked. Lingo woke up and went to see his field, and found all the +rice eaten. He knew the nilgai had done it, and showed the brothers +how to track them by the few marks which they had by accident made +on the ground. They did so, and surrounded the nilgai and killed +them all with their bows and arrows except the old uncle, from whom +Lingo's arrow rebounded harmlessly on account of his innocence, and +one young doe. From these two the nilgai race was preserved. Then +Lingo told the Gonds to make fire and roast the deer as follows: + + + He said, I will show you something; see if anywhere in your + Waistbands there is a flint; if so, take it out and make fire. + But the matches did not ignite. As they were doing this, a watch + of the night passed. + They threw down the matches, and said to Lingo, Thou art a Saint; + Show us where our fire is, and why it does not come out. + Lingo said: Three koss (six miles) hence is Rikad Gawadi the giant. + There is fire in his field; where smoke shall appear, go there, + Come not back without bringing fire. Thus said Lingo. + They said, We have never seen the place, where shall we go? + Ye have never seen where this fire is? Lingo said; + I will discharge an arrow thither. + Go in the direction of the arrow; there you will get fire. + He applied the arrow, and having pulled the bow, he discharged one: + It crashed on, breaking twigs and making its passage clear. + Having cut through the high grass, it made its way and reached + the old man's place (above mentioned). + The arrow dropped close to the fire of the old man, who had + daughters. + The arrow was near the door. As soon as they saw it, the daughters + came and took it up, + And kept it. They asked their father: When will you give us + in marriage? + Thus said the seven sisters, the daughters of the old man. + I will marry you as I think best for you; + Remain as you are. So said the old man, the Rikad Gawadi. + Lingo said, Hear, O brethren! I shot an arrow, it made its way. + Go there, and you will see fire; bring thence the fire. + Each said to the other, I will not go; but (at last) the youngest + went. + He descried the fire, and went to it; then beheld he an old man + looking like the trunk of a tree. + He saw from afar the old man's field, around which a hedge + was made. + The old man kept only one way to it, and fastened a screen to + the entrance, and had a fire in the centre of the field. + He placed logs of the Mahua and Anjun and Saj trees on the fire, + Teak faggots he gathered, and enkindled flame. + The fire blazed up, and warmed by the heat of it, in deep sleep + lay the Rikad Gawadi. + Thus the old man like a giant did appear. When the young Gond + beheld him, he shivered; + His heart leaped; and he was much afraid in his mind, and said: + If the old man were to rise he will see me, and I shall be + eaten up; + I will steal away the fire and carry it off, then my life will + be safe. + He went near the fire secretly, and took a brand of tendu wood + tree. + When he was lifting it up a spark flew and fell on the hip of + the old man. + That spark was as large as a pot; the giant was blistered; he + awoke alarmed. + And said: I am hungry, and I cannot get food to eat anywhere; + I feel a desire for flesh; + Like a tender cucumber hast thou come to me. So said the old man + to the Gond, + Who began to fly. The old man followed him. The Gond then threw + away the brand which he had stolen. + He ran onward, and was not caught. Then the old man, being tired, + turned back. + Thence he returned to his field, and came near the fire and sat, + and said, What nonsense is this? + A tender prey had come within my reach; + I said I will cut it up as soon as I can, but it escaped from + my hand! + Let it go; it will come again, then I will catch it. It has + gone now. + Then what happened? the Gond returned and came to his brethren. + And said to them: Hear, O brethren, I went for fire, as you sent + me, to that field; I beheld an old man like a giant. + With hands stretched out and feet lifted up. I ran. I thus survived + with difficulty. + The brethren said to Lingo, We will not go. Lingo said, Sit + ye here. + O brethren, what sort of a person is this giant? I will go and + see him. + So saying, Lingo went away and reached a river. + He thence arose and went onward. As he looked, he saw in front + three gourds. + Then he saw a bamboo stick, which he took up. + When the river was flooded + It washed away a gourd tree, and its seed fell, and each stem + produced bottle-gourds. + He inserted a bamboo stick in the hollow of the gourd and made + a guitar. + He plucked two hairs from his head and strung it. + He held a bow and fixed eleven keys to that one stick, and played + on it. + Lingo was much pleased in his mind. + Holding it in his hand, he walked in the direction of the old + man's field. + He approached the fire where Rikad Gawadi was sleeping. + The giant seemed like a log lying close to the fire; his teeth + were hideously visible; + His mouth was gaping. Lingo looked at the old man while sleeping. + His eyes were shut. Lingo said, This is not a good time to carry + off the old man while he is asleep. + In front he looked, and turned round and saw a tree + Of the pipal sort standing erect; he beheld its branches with + wonder, and looked for a fit place to mount upon. + It appeared a very good tree; so he climbed it, and ascended to + the top of it to sit. + As he sat the cock crew. Lingo said, It is daybreak; + Meanwhile the old man must be rising. Therefore Lingo took the + guitar in his hand, + And held it; he gave a stroke, and it sounded well; from it he + drew one hundred tunes. + It sounded well, as if he was singing with his voice. + Thus (as it were) a song was heard. + Trees and hills were silent at its sound. The music loudly + entered into + The old man's ears; he rose in haste, and sat up quickly; lifted + up his eyes, + And desired to hear (more). He looked hither and thither, but + could not make out whence the sound came. + The old man said: Whence has a creature come here to-day to sing + like the maina bird? + He saw a tree, but nothing appeared to him as he looked underneath + it. + He did not look up; he looked at the thickets and ravines, but + Saw nothing. He came to the road, and near to the fire in the + midst of his field and stood. + Sometimes sitting, and sometimes standing, jumping, and rolling, + he began to dance. + The music sounded as the day dawned. His old woman came out in + the morning and began to look out. + She heard in the direction of the field a melodious music playing. + When she arrived near the edge of her field, she heard music in + her ears. + That old woman called her husband to her. + With stretched hands, and lifted feet, and with his neck bent down, + he danced. + Thus he danced. The old woman looked towards her husband, and said, + My old man, my husband, + Surely, that music is very melodious. I will dance, said the + old woman. + Having made the fold of her dress loose, she quickly began to + dance near the hedge. + + + + +9. Death and resurrection of Lingo. + +Then Lingo disclosed himself to the giant and became friendly with +him. The giant apologised for having tried to eat his brother, and +called Lingo his nephew. Lingo invited him to come and feast on the +flesh of the sixteen scores of nilgai. The giant called his seven +daughters and offered them all to Lingo in marriage. The daughters +produced the arrow which they had treasured up as portending +a husband. Lingo said he was not marrying himself, but he would +take them home as wives for his brothers. So they all went back to +the cave and Lingo assigned two of the daughters each to the three +elder brothers and one to the youngest. Then the brothers, to show +their gratitude, said that they would go and hunt in the forest and +bring meat and fruit and Lingo should lie in a swing and be rocked +by their seven wives. But while the wives were swinging Lingo and +his eyes were shut, they wished to sport with him as their husbands' +younger brother. So saying they pulled his hands and feet till he woke +up. Then he reproached them and called them his mothers and sisters, +but they cared nothing and began to embrace him. Then Lingo was filled +with wrath and leapt up, and seeing a rice-pestle near he seized it +and beat them all with it soundly. Then the women went to their houses +and wept and resolved to be revenged on Lingo. So when the brothers +came home they told their husbands that while they were swinging +Lingo he had tried to seduce them all from their virtue, and they +were resolved to go home and stay no longer in Kachikopa with such +a man about the place. Then the brothers were exceedingly angry with +Lingo, who they thought had deceived them with a pretence of virtue +in refusing a wife, and they resolved to kill him. So they enticed +him into the forest with a story of a great animal which had put them +to flight and asked him to kill it, and there they shot him to death +with their arrows and gouged out his eyes and played ball with them. + +But the god Bhagwan became aware that Lingo was not praying to him as +usual, and sent the crow Kageshwar to look for him. The crow came and +reported that Lingo was dead, and the god sent him back with nectar to +sprinkle it over the body and bring it to life again, which was done. + + + + +10. He releases the Gonds shut up in the cave and constitutes the +tribe. + +Lingo then thought he had had enough of the four brothers, so he +determined to go and find the other sixteen score Gonds who were +imprisoned somewhere as the brothers had told him. The manner of his +doing this may be told in Captain Forsyth's version: [51] + + + And our Lingo redivivus + Wandered on across the mountains, + Wandered sadly through the forest + Till the darkening of the evening, + Wandered on until the night fell. + Screamed the panther in the forest, + Growled the bear upon the mountain, + And our Lingo then bethought him + Of their cannibal propensities. + Saw at hand the tree Niruda, + Clambered up into its branches. + Darkness fell upon the forest, + Bears their heads wagged, yelled the jackal + Kolyal, the King of Jackals. + Sounded loud their dreadful voices + In the forest-shade primeval. + Then the Jungle-Cock Gugotee, + Mull the Peacock, Kurs the Wild Deer, + Terror-stricken, screeched and shuddered, + In that forest-shade primeval. + But the moon arose at midnight, + Poured her flood of silver radiance, + Lighted all the forest arches, + Through their gloomy branches slanting; + Fell on Lingo, pondering deeply + On his sixteen scores of Koiturs. + Then thought Lingo, I will ask her + For my sixteen scores of Koiturs. + 'Tell me, O Moon!' said Lingo, + 'Tell, O Brightener of the darkness! + Where my sixteen scores are hidden.' + But the Moon sailed onwards, upwards, + And her cold and glancing moonbeams + Said, 'Your Gonds, I have not seen them.' + And the Stars came forth and twinkled + Twinkling eyes above the forest. + Lingo said, "O Stars that twinkle! + Eyes that look into the darkness, + Tell me where my sixteen scores are." + But the cold Stars twinkling ever, + Said, 'Your Gonds, we have not seen them.' + Broke the morning, the sky reddened, + Faded out the star of morning, + Rose the Sun above the forest, + Brilliant Sun, the Lord of morning, + And our Lingo quick descended, + Quickly ran he to the eastward, + Fell before the Lord of Morning, + Gave the Great Sun salutation-- + 'Tell, O Sun!' he said, 'Discover + Where my sixteen scores of Gonds are.' + But the Lord of Day reply made-- + "Hear, O Lingo, I a Pilgrim + Wander onwards, through four watches + Serving God, I have seen nothing + Of your sixteen scores of Koiturs." + Then our Lingo wandered onwards + Through the arches of the forest; + Wandered on until before him + Saw the grotto of a hermit, + Old and sage, the Black Kumait, + He the very wise and knowing, + He the greatest of Magicians, + Born in days that are forgotten, + In the unremembered ages, + Salutation gave and asked him-- + 'Tell, O Hermit! Great Kumait! + Where my sixteen scores of Gonds are. + Then replied the Black Magician, + Spake disdainfully in this wise-- + "Lingo, hear, your Gonds are asses + Eating cats, and mice, and bandicoots, + Eating pigs, and cows, and buffaloes; + Filthy wretches! wherefore ask me? + If you wish it I will tell you. + Our great Mahadeva caught them, + And has shut them up securely + In a cave within the bowels + Of his mountain Dewalgiri, + With a stone of sixteen cubits, + And his bulldog fierce Basmasur; + Serve them right, too, I consider, + Filthy, casteless, stinking wretches!" + And the Hermit to his grotto + Back returned, and deeply pondered + On the days that are forgotten, + On the unremembered ages. + But our Lingo wandered onwards, + Fasting, praying, doing penance; + Laid him on a bed of prickles, + Thorns long and sharp and piercing. + Fasting lay he devotee-like, + Hand not lifting, foot not lifting, + Eye not opening, nothing seeing. + Twelve months long thus lay and fasted, + Till his flesh was dry and withered, + And the bones began to show through. + Then the great god Mahadeva + Felt his seat begin to tremble, + Felt his golden stool, all shaking + From the penance of our Lingo. + Felt, and wondered who on earth + This devotee was that was fasting + Till his golden stool was shaking. + Stepped he down from Dewalgiri, + Came and saw that bed of prickles + Where our Lingo lay unmoving. + Asked him what his little game was, + Why his golden stool was shaking. + Answered Lingo, "Mighty Ruler! + Nothing less will stop that shaking + Than my sixteen scores of Koiturs + Rendered up all safe and hurtless + From your cave in Dewalgiri." + Then the Great God, much disgusted, + Offered all he had to Lingo, + Offered kingdom, name, and riches, + Offered anything he wished for, + 'Only leave your stinking Koiturs + Well shut up in Dewalgiri.' + But our Lingo all refusing + Would have nothing but his Koiturs; + Gave a turn to run the thorns a + Little deeper in his midriff. + Winced the Great God: "Very well, then, + Take your Gonds--but first a favour. + By the shore of the Black Water + Lives a bird they call Black Bindo, + Much I wish to see his young ones, + Little Bindos from the sea-shore; + For an offering bring these Bindos, + Then your Gonds take from my mountain." + Then our Lingo rose and wandered, + Wandered onwards through the forest, + Till he reached the sounding sea-shore, + Reached the brink of the Black Water, + Found the Bingo birds were absent + From their nest upon the sea-shore, + Absent hunting in the forest, + Hunting elephants prodigious, + Which they killed and took their brains out, + Cracked their skulls, and brought their brains to + Feed their callow little Bindos, + Wailing sadly by the sea-shore. + Seven times a fearful serpent, + Bhawarnag the horrid serpent, + Serpent born in ocean's caverns, + Coming forth from the Black Water, + Had devoured the little Bindos-- + Broods of callow little Bindos + Wailing sadly by the sea-shore-- + In the absence of their parents. + Eighth this brood was. Stood our Lingo, + Stood he pondering beside them-- + "If I take these little wretches + In the absence of their parents + They will call me thief and robber. + No! I'll wait till they come back here." + Then he laid him down and slumbered + By the little wailing Bindos. + As he slept the dreadful serpent, + Rising, came from the Black Water, + Came to eat the callow Bindos, + In the absence of their parents. + Came he trunk-like from the waters, + Came with fearful jaws distended, + Huge and horrid, like a basket + For the winnowing of corn. + Rose a hood of vast dimensions + O'er his fierce and dreadful visage. + Shrieked the Bindos young and callow, + Gave a cry of lamentation; + Rose our Lingo; saw the monster; + Drew an arrow from his quiver, + Shot it swift into his stomach, + Sharp and cutting in the stomach, + Then another and another; + Cleft him into seven pieces, + Wriggled all the seven pieces, + Wriggled backward to the water. + But our Lingo, swift advancing, + Seized the headpiece in his arms, + Knocked the brains out on a boulder; + Laid it down beside the Bindos, + Callow, wailing, little Bindos. + On it laid him, like a pillow, + And began again to slumber. + Soon returned the parent Bindos + From their hunting in the forest; + Bringing brains and eyes of camels + And of elephants prodigious, + For their little callow Bindos + Wailing sadly by the sea-shore. + But the Bindos young and callow + Brains of camels would not swallow; + Said--"A pretty set of parents + You are truly! thus to leave us + Sadly wailing by the sea-shore + To be eaten by the serpent-- + Bhawarnag the dreadful serpent-- + Came he up from the Black Water, + Came to eat us little Bindos, + When this very valiant Lingo + Shot an arrow in his stomach, + Cut him into seven pieces-- + Give to Lingo brains of camels, + Eyes of elephants prodigious." + Then the fond paternal Bindo + Saw the head-piece of the serpent + Under Lingo's head a pillow, + And he said, 'O valiant Lingo, + Ask whatever you may wish for.' + Then he asked the little Bindos + For an offering to the Great God, + And the fond paternal Bindo, + Much disgusted first refusing, + Soon consented; said he'd go too + With the fond maternal Bindo-- + Take them all upon his shoulders, + And fly straight to Dewalgiri. + Then he spread his mighty pinions, + Took his Bindos up on one side + And our Lingo on the other. + Thus they soared away together + From the shores of the Black Water, + And the fond maternal Bindo, + O'er them hovering, spread an awning + With her broad and mighty pinions + O'er her offspring and our Lingo. + By the forests and the mountains + Six months' journey was it thither + To the mountain Dewalgiri. + Half the day was scarcely over + Ere this convoy from the sea-shore + Lighted safe on Dewalgiri; + Touched the knocker to the gateway + Of the Great God, Mahadeva. + And the messenger Narayan + Answering, went and told his master-- + "Lo, this very valiant Lingo! + Here he is with all the Bindos, + The Black Bindos from the sea-shore." + Then the Great God, much disgusted, + Driven quite into a corner, + Took our Lingo to the cavern, + Sent Basmasur to his kennel, + Held his nose, and moved away the + Mighty stone of sixteen cubits; + Called those sixteen scores of Gonds out + Made them over to their Lingo. + And they said, "O Father Lingo! + What a bad time we've had of it, + Not a thing to fill our bellies + In this horrid gloomy dungeon." + But our Lingo gave them dinner, + Gave them rice and flour of millet, + And they went off to the river, + Had a drink, and cooked and ate it. + + +The next episode is taken from a slightly different local version: + +And while they were cooking their food at the river a great flood +came up, but all the Gonds crossed safely except the four gods, +Tekam, Markam, Pusam and Telengam. [52] These were delayed because +they had cooked their food with ghi which they had looted from the +Hindu deities. Then they stood on the bank and cried out, + + + O God of the crossing, + O Boundary God! + Should you be here, + Come take us across. + + +Hearing this, the tortoise and crocodile came up to them, and offered +to take them across the river. So Markam and Tekam sat on the back +of the crocodile and Pusam and Telengam on the back of the tortoise, +and before starting the gods made the crocodile and tortoise swear +that they would not eat or drown them in the sea. But when they got +to the middle of the river the tortoise and crocodile began to sink, +with the idea that they would drown the Gonds and feed their young +with them. Then the Gonds cried out, and the Raigidhni or vulture +heard them. This bird appears to be the same as the Bindo, as it fed +its young with elephants. The Raigidhni flew to the Gonds and took +them up on its back and flew ashore with them. And in its anger it +picked out the tongue of the crocodile and crushed the neck of the +tortoise. And this is why the crocodile is still tongueless and the +tortoise has a broken neck, which is sometimes inside and sometimes +outside its shell. Both animals also have the marks of string on +their backs where the Gond gods tied their necks together when +they were ferried across. Thus all the Gonds were happily reunited +and Lingo took them into the forest, and they founded a town there, +which grew and prospered. And Lingo divided all the Gonds into clans +and made the oldest man a Pardhan or priest and founded the rule of +exogamy. He also made the Gond gods, subsequently described, [53] +and worshipped them with offerings of a calf and liquor, and danced +before them. He also prescribed the ceremonies of marriage which are +still observed, and after all this was done Lingo went to the gods. + + + + +(b) Tribal Subdivisions + + +11. Subcastes. + +Out of the Gond tribe, which, as it gave its name to a province, may +be considered as almost a people, a number of separate castes have +naturally developed. Among them are several occupational castes such +as the Agarias or iron-workers, the Ojhas or soothsayers, Pardhans +or priests and minstrels, Solahas or carpenters, and Koilabhutis or +dancers or prostitutes. These are principally sprung from the Gonds, +though no doubt with an admixture of other low tribes or castes. The +Parjas of Bastar, now classed as a separate tribe, appear to represent +the oldest Gond settlers, who were subdued by later immigrants of +the race; while the Bhatras and Jhadi Telengas are of mixed descent +from Gonds and Hindus. Similarly the Gowari caste of cattle-graziers +originated from the alliances of Gond and Ahir graziers. The Mannewars +and Kolams are other tribes allied to the Gonds. Many Hindu castes +and also non-Aryan tribes living in contact with the Gonds have a +large Gond element; of the former class the Ahirs, Basors, Barhais +and Lohars, and of the latter the Baigas, Bhunjias and Khairwars +are instances. + +Among the Gonds proper there are two aristocratic subdivisions, the +Raj-Gonds and Khatolas. According to Forsyth the Raj-Gonds are in +many cases the descendants of alliances between Rajput adventurers +and Gonds. But the term practically comprises the landholding +subdivision of the Gonds, and any proprietor who was willing to pay +for the privilege could probably get his family admitted into the +Raj-Gond group. The Raj-Gonds rank with the Hindu cultivating castes, +and Brahmans will take water from them. They sometimes wear the +sacred thread. In the Telugu country the Raj-Gond is known as Durla +or Durlasattam. In some localities Raj-Gonds will intermarry with +ordinary Gonds, but not in others. The Khatola Gonds take their name +from the Khatola state in Bundelkhand, which is said to have once been +governed by a Gond ruler, but is no longer in existence. In Saugor +they rank about equal with the Raj-Gonds and intermarry with them, +but in Chhindwara it is said that ordinary Gonds despise them and +will not marry with them or eat with them on account of their mixed +descent from Gonds and Hindus. The ordinary Gonds in most Districts +form one endogamous group, and are known as the Dhur or 'dust' Gonds, +that is the common people. An alternative name conferred on them by the +Hindus is Rawanvansi or of the race of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, +who was the opponent of Rama. The inference from this name is that the +Hindus consider the Gonds to have been among the people of southern +India who opposed the Aryan expedition to Ceylon, which is preserved in +the legend of Rama; and the name therefore favours the hypothesis that +the Gonds came from the south and that their migration northward was +sufficiently recent in date to permit of its being still remembered +in tradition. There are several other small local subdivisions. The +Koya Gonds live on the border of the Telugu country, and their name +is apparently a corruption of Koi or Koitur, which the Gonds call +themselves. The Gaita are another Chanda subcaste, the word Gaite or +Gaita really meaning a village priest or headman. Gattu or Gotte is +said to be a name given to the hill Gonds of Chanda, and is not a real +subcaste. The Darwe or Naik Gonds of Chanda were formerly employed as +soldiers, and hence obtained the name of Naik or leader. Other local +groups are being formed such as the Larhia or those of Chhattisgarh, +the Mandlaha of Mandla, the Lanjiha from Lanji and so on. These are +probably in course of becoming endogamous. The Gonds of Bastar are +divided into two groups, the Maria and the Muria. The Maria are the +wilder, and are apparently named after the Mad, as the hilly country of +Bastar is called. Mr. Hira Lal suggests the derivation of Muria from +mur, the palas tree, which is common in the plains of Bastar, or from +mur, a root. Both derivations must be considered as conjectural. The +Murias are the Gonds who live in the plains and are more civilised +than the Marias. The descendants of the Raja of Deogarh Bakht Buland, +who turned Muhammadan, still profess that religion, but intermarry +freely with the Hindu Gonds. The term Bhoi, which literally means +a bearer in Telugu, is used as a synonym for the Gonds and also as +an honorific title. In Chhindwara it is said that only a village +proprietor is addressed as Bhoi. It appears that the Gonds were used +as palanquin-bearers, and considered it an honour to belong to the +Kahar or bearer caste, which has a fairly good status. [54] + + + + +12. Exogamy. + +The Gond rules of exogamy appear to preserve traces of the system found +in Australia, by which the whole tribe is split into two or four main +divisions, and every man in one or two of them must marry a woman in +the other one or two. This is considered by Sir J. G. Frazer to be +the beginning of exogamy, by which marriage was prohibited, first, +between brothers and sisters, and then between parents and children, +by the arrangement of these main divisions. [55] + +Among the Gonds, however, the subdivision into small exogamous septs +has been also carried out, and the class system, if the surmise that +it once existed be correct, remains only in the form of a survival, +prohibiting marriage between agnates, like an ordinary sept. In one +part of Bastar all the septs of the Maria Gonds are divided into two +great classes. There are ninety septs in A Class and sixty-nine in +B Class, though the list may be incomplete. All the septs of A Class +say that they are Bhaiband or Dadabhai to each other, that is in the +relation of brothers, or cousins being the sons of brothers. No man +of Class A can marry a woman of any sept in Class A. The septs of +Class A stand in relation of Mamabhai or Akomama to those of Class +B. Mamabhai means a maternal uncle's son, and Akomama apparently +signifies having the same maternal grandfather. Any man of a sept +in Class A can marry any woman of a sept in Class B. It will thus be +seen that the smaller septs seem to serve no purpose for regulating +marriage, and are no more than family names. The tribe might just +as well be divided into two great exogamous clans only. Marriage is +prohibited between persons related only through males; but according +to the exogamous arrangement there is no other prohibition, and +a man could marry any maternal relative. Separate rules, however, +prohibit his marriage with certain female relatives, and these will +be given subsequently. [56] It is possible that the small septs may +serve some purpose which has not been elicited, though the inquiry +made by Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath was most careful and painstaking. + +In another part of Bastar there were found to be five classes, and +each class had a small number of septs in it. The people who supplied +this information could not give the names of many septs. Thus Class A +had six septs, Class B five, Classes C and D one each, Class E four, +and Class F two. A man could not marry a woman of any sept belonging +to his own class. + +The Muria Gonds of Bastar have a few large exogamous septs or clans +named in Hindi after animals, and each of these clans contains several +subsepts with Gondi names. Thus the Bakaravans or Goat race contains +the Garde, Kunjami, Karrami and Vadde septs. The Kachhimvans or +Tortoise race has the Netami, Kawachi, Usendi and Tekami septs; the +Nagvans or Cobra race includes the Maravi, Potari, Karanga, Nurethi, +Dhurwa and others. Other exogamous races are the Sodi (or tiger), +Behainsa (buffalo), Netam (dog in Gondi), Chamchidai (bat) and one +or two more. In this case the exogamous clans with Hindi names would +appear to be a late division, and have perhaps been adopted because +the meaning of the old Gondi names had been forgotten, or the septs +were too numerous to be remembered. + +In Chanda a classification according to the number of gods worshipped +is found. There are four main groups worshipping seven, six, five +and four gods respectively, and each group contains ten to fifteen +septs. A man cannot marry a woman of any sept which worships the same +number of gods as himself. Each group has a sacred animal which the +members revere, that of the seven-god worshippers being a porcupine, +of the six-god worshippers a tiger, of the five-god worshippers the +saras crane, and of the four-god worshippers a tortoise. As a rule the +members of the different groups do not know the names of their gods, +and in practice it is doubtful whether they restrict themselves to the +proper number of gods of their own group. Formerly there were three-, +two- and one-god worshippers, but in each of these classes it is +said that there were only one or two septs, and they found that they +were much inconvenienced by the paucity of their numbers, perhaps +for purposes of communal worship and feasting, and hence they got +themselves enrolled in the larger groups. In reality it would appear +that the classification according to the number of gods worshipped is +being forgotten, and the three lowest groups have disappeared. This +conjecture is borne out by the fact that in Chhindwara and other +localities only two large classes remain who worship six and seven +gods respectively, and marry with each other, the union of a man +with a woman worshipping the same number of gods as himself being +prohibited. Here, again, the small septs included in the groups appear +to serve no purpose for regulating marriages. In Mandla the division +according to the number of gods worshipped exists as in Chanda; but +many Gonds have forgotten all particulars as to the gods, and say only +that those septs which worship the same number of gods are bhaiband, +or related to each other, and therefore cannot intermarry. In Betul +the division by numbers of gods appears to be wholly in abeyance. Here +certain large septs, especially the Uika and Dhurwa, are subdivided +into a number of subsepts, within each of which marriage is prohibited. + + + + +13. Totemism. + +Many of the septs are named after animals and plants. Among the +commonest septs in all Districts are Markam, the mango tree; Tekam, +the teak tree; Netam, the dog; Irpachi, the mahua tree; Tumrachi, the +tendu tree; Warkara, the wild cat, and so on. Generally the members +of a sept do not kill or injure their totem animals, but the rule +is not always observed, and in some cases they now have some other +object of veneration, possibly because they have forgotten the meaning +of the sept name, or the object after which it is named has ceased +to be sacred. Thus the Markam sept, though named after the mango, +now venerate the tortoise, and this is also the case with the Netam +sept in Bastar, though named after the dog. In Bastar a man revering +the tortoise, though he will not catch the animal himself, will get +one of his friends to catch it, and one revering the goat, if he +wishes to kill a goat for a feast, will kill it not at his own house +but at a friend's. The meaning of the important sept names Marabi, +Dhurwa and Uika has not been ascertained, and the members of the sept +do not know it. In Mandla the Marabi sept are divided into the Eti +Marabi and Padi Marabi, named after the goat and pig. The Eti or goat +Marabi will not touch a goat nor sacrifice one to Bura Deo. They say +that once their ancestors stole a goat and were caught by the owner, +when they put a basket over it and prayed Bura Deo to change it into +a pig, which he did. Therefore they sacrifice only pigs to Bura Deo, +but apparently the Padi Marabi also both sacrifice and eat pigs. The +Dhurwa sept are divided into the Tumrachi and Nabalia Dhurwa, named +after the tendu tree and the dwarf date-palm. The Nabalia Dhurwas +will not cut a dwarf date-palm nor eat its fruit. They worship Bura +Deo in this tree instead of in the saj tree, making an iron doll +to represent him and covering it with palm-leaves. The Uika sept in +Mandla say that they revere no animal or plant, and can eat any animal +or cut down any plant except the saj tree, [57] the tree of Bura Deo; +but in Betul they are divided into several subsepts, each of which +has a totem. The Parteti sept revere the crocodile. When a marriage +is finished they make a sacrifice to the crocodile, and if they see +one lying dead they break their earthen pots in token of mourning. The +Warkara sept revere the wild cat; they also will not touch a village +cat nor keep one in their house, and if a cat comes in they drive it +out at once. The Kunjam sept revere the rat and do not kill it. + + + + +14. Connection of totemism with the gods. + +In Betul the Gonds explain the totemistic names of their septs +by saying that some incident connected with the animal, tree +or other object occurred to the ancestor or priest of the sept +while they were worshipping at the Deo-khulla or god's place or +threshing-floor. Mr. Ganga Prasad Khatri has made an interesting +collection of these. The reason why these stories have been devised +may be that the totem animals or plants have ceased to be revered +on their own merits as ancestors or kinsmen of the sept, and it +was therefore felt necessary to explain the sept name or sanctity +attaching to the totem by associating it with the gods. If this were +correct the process would be analogous to that by which an animal or +plant is first held sacred of itself, and, when this feeling begins +to decay with some recognition of its true nature, it is associated +with an anthropomorphic god in order to preserve its sanctity. The +following are some examples recorded by Mr. Ganga Prasad Khatri. Some +of the examples are not associated with the gods. + +Gajjami, subsept of Dhurwa sept. From gaj, an arrow. Their first +ancestor killed a tiger with an arrow. + +Gouribans Dhurwa. Their first ancestor worshipped his gods in a +bamboo clump. + +Kusadya Dhurwa. (Kosa, tasar silk cocoon.) The first ancestor found +a silk cocoon on the tree in which he worshipped his gods. + +Kohkapath. Kohka is the fruit of the bhilawa [58] or marking-nut tree, +and path, a kid. The first ancestor worshipped his gods in a bhilawa +tree and offered a kid to them. Members of this sept do not eat the +fruit or flowers of the bhilawa tree. + +Jaglya. One who keeps awake, or the awakener. The first ancestor stayed +awake the whole night in the Deo-khulla, or god's threshing-floor. + +Sariyam. (Sarri, a path.) The first ancestor swept the path to the +Deo-khulla. + +Guddam. Gudda is a place where a hen lays her eggs. The first +ancestor's hen laid eggs in the Deo-khulla. + +Irpachi. The mahua tree. A mahua tree grew in the Deo-khulla or +worshipping-place of this sept. + +Admachi. The dhaura tree. [59] The first ancestor worshipped his +gods under a dhaura tree. Members of the sept do not cut this tree +nor burn its wood. + +Sarati Dhurwa. (Sarati, a whip.) The first ancestor whipped the priest +of the gods. + +Suibadiwa. (Sui, a porcupine.) The first ancestor's wife had a +porcupine which went and ate the crop of an old man's field. He tried +to catch it, but it went back to her. He asked the name of her sept, +and not being able to find it out called it Suibadiwa. + +Watka. (A stone.) Members of this sept worship five stones for their +gods. Some say that the first ancestors were young boys who forgot +where the Deo-khulla was and therefore set up five stones and offered +a chicken to them. As they did not offer the usual sacrifice of a goat, +members of this sept abstain from eating goats. + +Tumrecha Uika. (The tendu tree. [60]) It is said that the original +ancestor of this sept was walking in the forest with his pregnant +wife. She saw some tendu fruit and longed for it and he gave it to +her to eat. Perhaps the original idea may have been that she conceived +through swallowing a tendu fruit. Members of this sept eat the fruit +of the tendu tree, but do not cut the tree nor make any use of its +leaves or branches. + +Tumdan Uika. Tumdan is a kind of pumpkin or gourd. They say that this +plant grows in their Deo-khulla. The members drink water out of this +gourd in the house, but do not carry it out of the house. + +Kadfa-chor Uika. (Stealer of the kadfa.) Kadfa is the sheaf of grain +left standing in the field for the gods when the crop is cut. The +first ancestor stole the kadfa and offered it to his gods. + +Gadhamar Uika. (Donkey-slayer.) Some say that the gods of the sept +came to the Deo-khulla riding on donkeys, and others that the first +ancestor killed a donkey in the Deo-khulla. + +Eti-kumra. Eti is a goat. The ancestors of the sept used to sacrifice +a Brahman boy to their gods. Once they were caught in the act by the +parents of the boy they had stolen, and they prayed to the gods to +save them, and the boy was turned into a goat. They do not kill a +goat nor eat its flesh, nor sacrifice it to the gods. + +Ahke. This word means 'on the other side of a river.' They say that +a man of the Dhurwa sept abducted a girl of the Uika sept from the +other side of a river and founded this sept. + +Tirgam. The word means fire. They say that their ancestor's hand was +burnt in the Deo-khulla while cooking the sacrifice. + +Tekam. (The teak tree.) The ancestor of the sept had his gods in +this tree. Members of the sept will not eat food off teak leaves, +but they will use them for thatching, and also cut the tree. + +Manapa. In Gondi mani is a son and apa a father. They say that their +ancestors sacrificed a Brahman father and son to their gods and were +saved by their being turned into goats like the Eti-kumra sept. Members +of the sept do not kill or eat a goat. + +Korpachi. The droppings of a hen. The ancestors of the sept offered +these to his gods. + +Mandani. The female organ of generation. The ancestor of the sept +slept with his wife in the Deo-khulla. + +Paiyam. Paiya is a heifer which has not borne a calf, such as is +offered to the gods. Other Gonds say that the people of this sept have +no gods. They are said not only to marry a girl from any other subsept +of the Dhurwas and Uikas, but from their own sept and even their own +sisters, though this is probably no longer true. They are held to be +the lowest of the Gonds. Except in this instance, as already seen, +the subsepts of the Dhurwa and Uika septs do not intermarry with +each other. + + + + +(c) Marriage Customs + + +15. Prohibitions on intermarriage, and unions of relations. + +A man must not marry in his own sept, nor in one which worships the +same number of gods, in localities where the classification of septs +according to the number of gods worshipped obtains. Intermarriage +between septs which are bhaiband or brothers to each other is also +prohibited. The marriage of first cousins is considered especially +suitable. Formerly, perhaps, the match between a brother's daughter +and sister's son was most common; this is held to be a survival of the +matriarchate, when a man's sister's son was his heir. But the reason +has now been generally forgotten, and the union of a brother's son +to a sister's daughter has also become customary, while, as girls +are scarce and have to be paid for, it is the boy's father who puts +forward his claim. Thus in Mandla and Bastar a man thinks he has a +right to his sister's daughter for his son on the ground that his +family has given a girl to her husband's family, and therefore they +should give one back. This match is known as Dudh lautana or bringing +back the milk; and if the sister's daughter marries any one else +her maternal uncle sometimes claims what is known as 'milk money,' +which may be a sum of Rs. 5, in compensation for the loss of the +girl as a wife for his son. This custom has perhaps developed out of +the former match in changed conditions of society, when the original +relation between a brother and his sister's son has been forgotten +and girls have become valuable. But it is said that the dudh or milk +money is also payable if a brother refuses to give his daughter to +his sister's son. In Mandla a man claims his sister's daughter for +his son and sometimes even the daughter of a cousin, and considers +that he has a legitimate grievance if the girl is married to somebody +else. Frequently, if he has reason to apprehend this, he invites the +girl to his house for some ceremony or festival, and there marries +her to his son without the consent of her parents. As this usually +constitutes the offence of kidnapping under the Penal Code, a crop of +criminal cases results, but the procedure of arrest without warrant +and the severe punishment imposed by the Code are somewhat unsuitable +for a case of this kind, which, according to Gond ideas, is rather +in the nature of a civil wrong, and a sufficient penalty would often +be the payment of an adequate compensation or bride-price for the +girl. The children of two sisters cannot, it is said, be married, +and a man cannot marry his wife's elder sister, any aunt or niece, +nor his mother-in-law or her sister. But marriage is not prohibited +between grandparents and grandchildren. If an old man marries a young +wife and dies, his grandson will marry her if she is of proper age. In +this there would be no blood-relationship, but it is doubtful whether +even the existence of such relationship would prevent the match. It +is said that even among Hindu castes the grandfather will flirt with +his granddaughter, and call her his wife in jest, and the grandmother +with her grandson. In Bastar a man can marry his daughter's daughter +or maternal grandfather's or grandmother's sister. He could not marry +his son's daughter or paternal grandfather's sister, because they +belong to the same sept as himself. + + + + +16. Irregular marriages. + +In the Maria country, if a girl is made pregnant by a man of the +caste before marriage, she simply goes to his house and becomes his +wife. This is called Paithu or entering. The man has to spend Rs. 2 +or 3 on food for the caste and pay the price for the girl to her +parents. If a girl has grown up and no match has been arranged for +her to which she agrees, her parents will ask her maternal uncle's or +paternal aunt's son to seize her and take her away. These two cousins +have a kind of prescriptive claim to the girl, and apparently it makes +no difference whether the prospective husband is already married or +not. He and his friends lie in wait near her home and carry her off, +and her parents afterwards proceed to his house to console their +daughter and reconcile her to the match. Sometimes when a woman is +about to become what is known as a Paisamundi or kept woman, without +being married, the relations rub her and the man whose mistress she +is with oil and turmeric, put marriage crowns of palm-leaves on their +heads, pour water on them from the top of a post, and make them go +seven times round a mahua branch, so that they may be considered to +be married. When a couple are very poor they may simply go and live +together without any wedding, and perform the ceremony afterwards +when they have means, or they distribute little pieces of bread to +the tribesmen in lieu of the marriage feast. + + + + +17. Marriage. Arrangement of matches. + +Marriage is generally adult. Among the wild Maria Gonds of Bastar +the consent of the girl is considered an essential preliminary to +the union. She gives it before a council of elders, and if necessary +is allowed time to make up her mind. The boy must also agree to the +match. Elsewhere matches are arranged by the parents, and a bride-price +which amounts to a fairly substantial sum in comparison with the means +of the parties is usually paid. But still the girls have a considerable +amount of freedom. It is generally considered that if a girl goes of +her own accord and pours turmeric and water over a man, it is a valid +marriage and he can take her to live in his house. Married women also +sometimes do this to another man if they wish to leave their husbands. + + + + +18. The marriage ceremony. + +The most distinctive feature of a Gond marriage is that the procession +usually starts from the bride's house and the wedding is held at that +of the bridegroom, in contradistinction to the Hindu practice. It +is supposed that this is a survival of the custom of marriage by +capture, when the bride was carried off from her own house to the +bridegroom's, and any ceremony which was requisite was necessarily +held at the house of the latter. But the Gonds say that since Dulha +Deo, the bridegroom god and one of the commonest village deities, was +carried off by a tiger on his way to his wedding, it was decided that +in future the bride must go to the bridegroom to be married in order +to obviate the recurrence of such a calamity. Any risk incidental to +the journey thus falls to the lady. Among the wilder Maria Gonds of +Bastar the ritual is very simple. The bride's party arrive at the +bridegroom's village and occupy some huts made ready for them. His +father sends them provisions, including a pig and fowls, and the day +passes in feasting. In the evening they go to the bridegroom's house, +and the night is spent in dancing by the couple and the young people +of the village. Next morning the bride's people go back again, and +after another meal her parents bring her to the bridegroom's house +and push her inside, asking the boy's father to take charge of her, +and telling her that she now belongs to her husband's family and must +not come back to them alone. The girl cries a little for form's sake +and acquiesces, and the business is over, no proper marriage rite being +apparently performed at all. Among the more civilised Marias the couple +are seated for the ceremony side by side under a green shed, and water +is poured on them through the shed in imitation of the fertilising +action of rain. Some elder of the village places his hands on them and +the wedding is over. But Hindu customs are gradually being adopted, +and the rubbing of powdered turmeric and water on the bodies of the +bride and bridegroom is generally essential to a proper wedding. The +following description is given of the Gonds of Kanker. On the day fixed +for the marriage the pair, accompanied by the Dosi or caste priest, +proceed to a river, in the bed of which two reeds five or six feet +high are placed just so far apart that a man can lie down between +them, and tied together with a thread at the top. The priest lies +down between the reeds, and the bride and bridegroom jump seven times +over his body. After the last jump they go a little way off, throw +aside their wet clothes, and then run naked to a place where their +dry clothes are kept; they put them on and go home without looking +back. Among the Gonds in Khairagarh the pair are placed in two pans +of a balance and covered with blankets. The caste priest lifts up the +bridegroom's pan and her female relatives the bride's, and walk round +with them seven times, touching the marriage-post at each time. After +this they are taken outside the village without being allowed to see +each other. They are placed standing at a little distance with a screen +between them, and liquor is spilt on the ground to make a line from +one to the other. After a time the bridegroom lifts up the screen, +rushes on the bride, gives her a blow on the back and puts the ring +on her finger, at the same time making a noise in imitation of the +cry of a goat. All the village then indulge in bacchanalian orgies, +not sparing their own relations. + + + + +19. Wedding expenditure. + +In Bastar it is said that the expenses of a wedding vary from Rs. 5 +to Rs. 20 for the bride's family and from Rs. 10 to Rs. 50 for the +bridegroom's, according to their means. [61] In a fairly well-to-do +family the expenditure of the bridegroom's family is listed as follows: +liquor Rs. 20, rice Rs. 12, salt Rs. 2, two goats Rs. 2, chillies +Rs. 2, ghi Rs. 4, turmeric Rs. 2, oil Rs. 3, three cloths for the bride +Rs. 8, two sheets and a loin-cloth for her relatives Rs. 5, payment to +the Kumhar for earthen pots Rs. 5, the bride-price Rs. 10, present to +the bride's maternal uncle when she is not married to his son Rs. 2, +and something for the drummers. The total of this is Rs. 76, and any +expenditure on ornaments which the family can afford may be added. In +wealthier localities the bride-price is Rs. 15 to 20 or more. Sometimes +if the girl has been married and dies before the bride-price has +been paid, her father will not allow her body to be buried until +it is paid. The sum expended on a wedding probably represents the +whole income of the family for at least six months, and often for a +considerably longer period. In Chanda [62] the bride's party on arrival +at the bridegroom's village receive the Bara jawa or marriage greeting, +every one present being served with a little rice-water, an onion and +a piece of tobacco. At the wedding the bridegroom has a ring either of +gold, silver or copper, lead not being permissible, and places this on +the bride's finger. Often the bride resists and the bridegroom has to +force her fist open, or he plants his foot on hers in order to control +her while he gets the ring on to her finger. Elsewhere the couple hold +each other by the little fingers in walking round the marriage-post, +and then each places an iron ring on the other's little finger. The +couple then tie strings, coloured yellow with turmeric, round each +other's right wrists. On the second day they are purified with water +and put on new clothes. On the third day they go to worship the god, +preceded by two men who carry a chicken in a basket. This chicken is +called the Dhendha or associate of the bridal couple, and corresponds +to the child which in Hindu marriages is appointed as the associate +of the bridegroom. Just before their arrival at the temple the village +jester snatches away the chicken, and pretends to eat it. At the temple +they worship the god, and deposit before him the strings coloured with +turmeric which had been tied on their wrists. In Chhindwara the bride +is taken on a bullock to the bridegroom's house. At the wedding four +people hold out a blanket in which juari, lemons and eggs are placed, +and the couple walk round this seven times, as in the Hindu bhanwar +ceremony. They then go inside the house, where a chicken is torn +asunder and the blood sprinkled on their heads. At the same time +the bride crushes a chicken under her foot. In Mandla the bride on +entering the marriage-shed kills a chicken by cutting off its head +either with an axe or a knife. Then all the gods of her house enter +into her and she is possessed by them, and for each one she kills a +chicken, cutting off its head in the same manner. The chickens are +eaten by all the members of the bride's party who have come with her, +but none belonging to the bridegroom's party may partake of them. Here +the marriage-post is made of the wood of the mahua tree, round which a +toran or string of mango leaves is twisted, and the couple walk seven +times round this. In Wardha the bride and bridegroom stand on the heap +of refuse behind the house and their heads are knocked together. In +Bhandara two spears are placed on the heap of refuse and their ends +are tied together at the top with the entrails of a fowl. The bride +and bridegroom have to stand under the spears while water is poured +over them, and then run out. Before the bride starts the bridegroom +must give her a blow on the back, and if he can do this before she runs +out from the spears it is thought that the marriage will be lucky. The +women of the bride's and bridegroom's party also stand one at each end +of a rope and have a competition in singing. They sing against each +other and see which can go on the longest. Brahmans are not employed +at a Gond wedding. The man who officiates is known as Dosi, and is +the bridegroom's brother-in-law, father's sister's husband or some +similar relative. A woman relative of the bride helps her to perform +her part and is known as Sawasin. To the Dosi and Sawasin the bride +and bridegroom's parties present an earthen vessel full of kodon. The +donors mark the pots, take them home and sow them in their own fields, +and then give the crop to the Dosi and Sawasin. + + + + +20. Special customs. + +Some years ago in Balaghat the bride and bridegroom sat and ate food +together out of two leaf-plates. When they had finished the bride took +the leaf-plates, ran with them to the marriage-shed, and fixed them in +the woodwork so that they did not fall down. The bridegroom ran after +her, and if she did not put the plates away quickly, gave her one or +two blows with his fist. This apparently was a symbolical training of +the bride to be diligent and careful in her household work. Among the +Raj-Gonds of Saugor, if the bridegroom could not come himself he was +accustomed to send his sword to represent him. The Sawasin carried the +sword seven times round the marriage-post with the bride and placed +a garland on her on its behalf, and the bride put a garland over +the sword. This was held to be a valid marriage. In a rich Raj-Gond +or Khatola Gond family two or three girls would be given with the +bride, and they would accompany her and become the concubines of the +bridegroom. Among the Maria Gonds of Chanda the wedded pair retire +after the ceremony to a house allotted to them and spend the night +together. Their relatives and friends before leaving shout and make +merry round the house for a time, and throw all kinds of rubbish and +dirt on it. In the morning the couple have to get up early and clear +all this off, and clean up the house. A curious ceremony is reported +from one part of Mandla. When a Gond girl is leaving to be married, +her father places inside her litter a necklace of many strings of +blue and yellow beads, with a number of cowries at the end, and an +iron ring attached to it. On her arrival at the bridegroom's house +his father takes out the necklace and ring. Sometimes it is said +that he simply passes a stone through the ring, but often he hangs +it up in the centre of a room, and the bridegroom's relatives throw +stones at it until one of them goes through the ring, or they throw +long bamboo sticks or shoot arrows at it, or even fire bullets from +a gun. In a recent case it is said that a man was trying to fire +a bullet through the ring and killed a girl. Until a stone, stick, +arrow or bullet has been sent through the ring the marriage cannot +take place, nor can the bridegroom or his father touch the bride, +and they go on doing this all night until somebody succeeds. When the +feat has been done they pour a bottle of liquor over the necklace and +ring, and the bride's relatives catch the liquor as it falls, and drink +it. The girl wears the necklace at her wedding, and thereafter so long +as her husband lives, and when he dies she tears the string to pieces +and throws it into the river. The iron ring must be made by a Gondi +Lohar or blacksmith, and he will not accept money in payment for it, +but must be given a cow, calf, or buffalo. The symbolical meaning +of this rite does not appear to require explanation. [63] In many +places the bride and bridegroom go and bathe in a river or tank on +the day after the wedding, and throw mud and dirt over each other, +or each throws the other down and rolls him or her in the mud. This +is called Chikhal-Mundi or playing in the mud. Afterwards the bride +has to wash the bridegroom's muddy clothes, roll them up in a blanket, +and carry them on her head to the house. A see-saw is then placed in +the marriage-shed, and the bridegroom's father sits on it. The bride +makes the see-saw move up and down, while her relations joke with her +and say, 'Your child is crying.' Elsewhere the bridegroom's father sits +in a swing. The bride and bridegroom swing him, and the bystanders +exclaim that the old man is the child of the new bride. It seems +possible that both customs are meant to portray the rocking of a baby +in a cradle or swinging it in a swing, and hence it is thought that +through performing them the bride will soon rock or swing a real baby. + + + + +21. Taking omens. + +In Bastar an omen is taken before the wedding. The village elders meet +on an auspicious day as Monday, Thursday or Friday, and after midnight +they cook and eat food, and go out into the forest. They look for a +small black bird called Usi, from which omens are commonly taken. When +anybody sees this bird, if it cries 'Sun, Sun,' on the right hand, +it is thought that the marriage will be lucky. If, however, it cries +'Chi, Chi' or 'Fie, Fie,' the proposed match is held to be of evil +omen, and is cancelled. The Koya Gonds of Bastar distil mahua liquor +before arranging for a match. If the liquor is good they think the +marriage will be lucky, and take the liquor with them to cement the +betrothal; but if it is bad they think the marriage will be unlucky, +and the proposal is dropped. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are +held to be lucky days for marriages, and they are celebrated in the +hot-weather months of Baisakh, Jesth and Asar, or April, May and June, +or in Pus (December), and rarely in Magh (January). A wedding is only +held in Kartik (October) if the bride and bridegroom have already +had sexual intercourse, and cannot take place in the rains. + + + + +22. Marriage by capture. Weeping and hiding. + +Survivals of the custom of marriage by capture are to be found in many +localities. In Bastar the prospective bridegroom collects a party of +his friends and lies in wait for the girl, and they catch her when she +comes out and gets a little distance from her house. The girl cries +out, and women of the village come and rescue her and beat the boys +with sticks till they have crossed the boundary of the village. The +boys neither resist nor retaliate on the women, but simply make off +with the girl. When they get home a new cloth is given to her, and the +boys have a carouse on rice-beer, and the marriage is considered to +be complete. The parents do not interfere, but as a rule the affair +is prearranged between the girl and her suitor, and if she really +objects to the match they let her go. A similar procedure occurs in +Chanda. Other customs which seem to preserve the idea that marriage +was once a forcible abduction are those of the bride weeping and +hiding, which are found in most Districts. In Balaghat the bride +and one or two friends go round to the houses of the village and to +other villages, all of them crying, and receive presents from their +friends. In Wardha the bride is expected to cry continuously for a day +and a night before the wedding, to show her unwillingness to leave her +family. In Kanker it is said that before marriage the bride is taught +to weep in different notes, so that when that part of the ceremony +arrives in which weeping is required, she may have the proper note +at her command. In Chhindwara the bridegroom's party go and fetch the +bride for the wedding, and on the night before her departure she hides +herself in some house in the village. The bridegroom's brother and +other men seek all through the village for her, and when they find +her she runs and clings to the post of the house. The bridegroom's +brother carries her off by force, and she is taken on a bullock to +the bridegroom's house. In Seoni the girl hides in the same manner, +and calls out 'Coo, coo,' when they are looking for her. After she +is found, the bridegroom's brother carries her round on his back +to the houses of his friends in the village, and she weeps at each +house. When the bride's party arrive at the bridegroom's village the +latter's party meet them and stop them from proceeding further. After +waving sticks against each other in a threatening manner they fall +on each other's necks and weep. Then two spears are planted to make +an arch before the door, and the bridegroom pushes the bride through +these from behind, hitting her to make her go through, while she hangs +back and feigns reluctance. In Mandla the bride sometimes rides to the +wedding on the shoulders of her sister's husband, and it is supposed +that she never gets down all the way. + + + + +23. Serving for a wife. + +The practice of Lamsena, or serving for a wife, is commonly adopted +by boys who cannot afford to buy one. The bridegroom serves his +prospective father-in-law for an agreed period, usually three to +five or even six years, and at its expiry he should be married +to the girl without expense. During this time he is not supposed +to have access to the girl, but frequently they become intimate, +and if this happens the boy may either stay and serve his unexpired +term or take his wife away at once; in the latter case his parents +should pay the girl's father Rs. 5 for each year of the bridegroom's +unexpired service. The Lamsena custom does not work well as a rule, +since the girl's parents can break their contract, and the Lamsena has +no means of redress. Sometimes if they are offered a good bride-price +they will marry the girl to another suitor when he has served the +greater part of his term, and all his work goes for nothing. + + + + +24. Widow remarriage. + +The remarriage of widows is freely permitted. As a rule it is +considered suitable that she should marry her deceased husband's +younger brother, but she may not marry his elder brother, and in +the south of Bastar and Chanda the union with the younger brother is +also prohibited. In Mandla, if she will not wed the younger brother, +on the eleventh day after the husband's death he puts the tarkhi or +palm-leaf earrings in her ears, and states that if she marries anybody +else he will claim dawa-bunda or compensation. Similarly in Bastar, if +an outsider marries the widow, he first goes through a joint ceremony +with the younger brother, by which the latter relinquishes his right +in favour of the former. The widow must not marry any man whom she +could not have taken as her first husband. After her husband's death +she resides with her parents, and a price is usually paid to them +by any outsider who wishes to marry her. In Bastar there is a fixed +sum of Rs. 24, half of which goes to the first husband's family and +half to the caste panchayat. The payment to the panchayat perhaps +comes down from the period when widows were considered the property +of the state or the king, and sold by auction for the benefit of the +treasury. It is said that the descendants of the Gond Rajas of Chanda +still receive a fee of Rs. 1-8 from every Gond widow who is remarried +in the territories over which their jurisdiction extended. In Bastar +when a widow marries again she has to be transferred from the gods +of her first husband's sept to those of her second husband. For this +two leaf-cups are filled with water and mahua liquor respectively, +and placed with a knife between them. The liquor and water are each +poured three times from one cup to the other and back until they are +thoroughly mixed, and the mixture is then poured over the heads of +the widow and her second husband. This symbolises her transfer to the +god of the new sept. In parts of Bastar when a man has been killed by +a tiger and his widow marries again, she goes through the ceremony +not with her new husband but with a lance, axe or sword, or with +a dog. It is thought that the tiger into which her first husband's +spirit has entered will try to kill her second husband, but owing to +the precaution taken he will either simply carry off the dog or will +himself get killed by an axe, sword or lance. In most localities the +ceremony of widow-marriage is simple. Turmeric is rubbed on the bodies +of the couple and they may exchange a pair of rings or their clothes. + + + + +25. Divorce. + +Divorce is freely allowed on various grounds, as for adultery on the +wife's part, a quarrelsome disposition, carelessness in the management +of household affairs, or if a woman's children continue to die, or +she is suspected of being a witch. Divorce is, however, very rare, +for in order to get a fresh wife the man would have to pay for another +wedding, which few Gonds can afford, and he would also have difficulty +in getting a girl to marry him. Therefore he will often overlook even +adultery, though a wife's adultery not infrequently leads to murder +among the Gonds. In order to divorce his wife the husband sends for +a few castemen, takes a piece of straw, spits on it, breaks it in +two and throws it away, saying that he has renounced all further +connection with his wife. If a woman is suspected of being a witch +she often has to leave the village and go to some place where she +is not known, and in that case her husband must either divorce her +or go with her. There is no regular procedure for a wife divorcing +her husband, but she can, if sufficiently young and attractive, take +matters into her own hands, and simply leave her husband's house and +go and live with some one else. In such a case the man who takes +her has to repay to the husband the sum expended by the latter on +his marriage, and the panchayat may even decree that he should pay +double the amount. When a man divorces his wife he has no liability +for her maintenance, and often takes back any ornaments he may have +given her. And a man who marries a divorced woman may be expected +to pay her husband the expenses of his marriage. Instances are known +of a bride disappearing even during the wedding, if she dislikes her +partner; and Mr. Lampard of the Baihir Mission states that one night +a Gond wedding party came to his house and asked for the loan of a +lantern to look for the bride who had vanished. + + + + +26. Polygamy. + +Polygamy is freely allowed, and the few Gonds who can afford the +expense are fond of taking a number of wives. Wives are very useful +for cultivation as they work better than hired servants, and to +have several wives is a sign of wealth and dignity. A man who has +a number of wives will take them all to the bazar in a body to +display his importance. A Gond who had seven wives in Balaghat was +accustomed always to take them to the bazar like this, walking in a +line behind him. + + + + +(d) Birth and Pregnancy + + +27. Menstruation. + +In parts of Mandla the first appearance of the signs of puberty in +a girl is an important occasion. She stays apart for four days, and +during this time she ties up one of her body-cloths to a beam in the +house in the shape of a cradle, and swings it for a quarter or half +an hour every day in the name of Jhulan Devi, the cradle goddess. On +the fifth day she goes and bathes, and the Baiga priest and his wife +go with her. She gives the Baiga a hen and five eggs and a bottle of +wine, and he offers them to Jhulan Devi at her shrine. To the Baigan +she gives a hen and ten eggs and a bottle of liquor, and the Baigan +tattoos the image of Jhulan Devi on each side of her body. A black +hen with feathers spotted with white is usually chosen, as they say +that this hen's blood is of a darker colour and that she lays more +eggs. All this ceremonial is clearly meant to induce fertility in the +girl. The Gonds regard a woman as impure for as long as the menstrual +period lasts, and during this time she cannot draw water nor cook food, +nor go into a cowshed or touch cowdung. In the wilder Maria tracts +there is, or was till lately, a building out of sight of the village +to which women in this condition retired. Her relatives brought her +food and deposited it outside the hut, and when they had gone away +she came out and took it. It was considered that a great evil would +befall any one who looked on the face of a woman during the period of +this impurity. The Raj-Gonds have the same rules as Hindus regarding +the menstrual periods of women. [64] + + + + +28. Superstitions about pregnancy and childbirth. + +No special rites are observed during pregnancy, and the superstitions +about women in this condition resemble those of the Hindus. [65] +A pregnant woman must not go near a horse or elephant, as they think +that either of these animals would be excited by her condition and +would assault her. In cases where labour is prolonged they give the +woman water to drink from a swiftly flowing stream, or they take +pieces of wood from a tree struck by lightning or by a thunder-bolt, +and make a necklace of them and hang it round her neck. In these +instances the swiftness of the running water, or of the lightning or +thunder-bolt, is held to be communicated to the woman, and thus she +will obtain a quick delivery. Or else they ask the Gunia or sorcerer +to discover what ancestor will be reborn in the child, and when he has +done this he calls on the ancestor to come and be born quickly. If +a woman is childless they say that she should worship Bura Deo and +fast continually, and then on the termination of her monthly impurity, +after she has bathed, if she walks across the shadow of a man she will +have a child. It is thus supposed that the woman can be made fertile +by the man's shadow, which will be the father of the child. Or she +should go on a Sunday night naked to a saj tree [66] and pray to +it, and she may have a child. The saj is the tree in which Bura Deo +resides, and was probably in the beginning itself the god. Hence it +is supposed that the woman is impregnated by the spirit of the tree, +as Hindu women think that they can be made fertile by the spirits of +unmarried Brahman boys living in pipal trees. Or she may have recourse +to the village priest, the Bhumka or the Baiga, who probably finds +that her barren condition is the work of an evil spirit and propitiates +him. If a woman dies in the condition of pregnancy they cut her belly +open before burial, so that the spirit of the child may escape. If +she dies during or soon after delivery they bury her in some remote +jungle spot, from which her spirit will find it difficult to return +to the village. The spirit of such a woman is supposed to become a +Churel and to entice men, and especially drunken men, to injury by +causing them to fall into rivers or get shut up in hollow trees. The +only way they can escape her is to offer her the ornaments which a +married woman wears. Her enmity to men is due to the fact that she +was cut off when she had just had the supreme happiness of bearing +a child, and the present of these ornaments appeases her. The spirit +of a woman whose engagement for marriage has been broken off, or who +has deserted her husband's house for another man's, is also supposed +to become a Churel. If an abortion occurs, or a child is born dead +or dies very shortly after birth, they put the body in an earthen +pot, and bury it under the heap of refuse behind the house. They say +that this is done to protect the body from the witches, who if they +get hold of it will raise the child's spirit, and make it a Bir or +familiar spirit. Witches have special power over the spirits of such +children, and can make them enter the body of an owl, a cat, a dog, +or a headless man, and in this form cause any injury which the witch +may desire to inflict on a human being. The real reason for burying +the bodies of such children close to the house is probably, however, +the belief that they will thus be born again in the same family. If the +woman is fat and well during pregnancy they think a girl will be born, +but if she is ailing and thin, that the child will be a boy. If the +nipples of her breasts are of a reddish colour they think the birth of +a boy is portended, but if of blackish colour, a girl. When a birth +occurs another woman carefully observes the knots or protuberances +on the navel-cord. It is supposed that the number of them indicates +the further number of children which will be born to the mother. A +blackish knot inclining downwards portends a boy, and a reddish one +inclining upwards a girl. It is supposed that an intelligent midwife +can change the order of these knots, and if a woman has only borne +girl-children can arrange that the next one shall be a boy. + + + + +29. Procedure at a birth. + +Professional midwives are not usually employed at childbirth, and the +women look after each other. Among the Maria Gonds of Bastar the father +is impure for a month after the birth of a child and does not go to +his work. A Muria Gond father is impure until the navel-cord drops; +he may reap his crop, but cannot thresh or sow. This is perhaps a +relic of the custom of the Couvade. The rules for the treatment of +the mother resemble those of the Hindus, but they do not keep her +so long without food. On some day from the fifth to the twelfth +after the birth the mother is purified and the child is named. On +this day its hair is shaved by the son-in-law or husband's or wife's +brother-in-law. The mother and child are washed and rubbed with oil +and turmeric, and the house is freshly whitewashed and cleaned with +cowdung. They procure a winnowing-fan full of kodon and lay the child +on it, and the mother ties this with a cloth under her arm. In the +Nagpur country the impurity of the mother is said to last for a month, +during which time she is not allowed to cook food and no one touches +her. Among the poorer Gonds the mother often does not lie up at all +after a birth, but eats some pungent root as a tonic and next day +goes on with her work. + + + + +30. Names. + +On the Sor night, or that of purification, the women of the village +assemble and sing. The mother holds the child in her lap, and they each +put a pice (1/4d.) in a dish as a present to it. A name is chosen, +and an elderly woman announces it. Names are now often Hindu words, +and are selected very much at random. [67] If the child was born +on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Sunday the name of the day is +often given, as Mangal, Budhu, Sukhiya, Itwari; or if born in the +month of Magh (January), Phagun (February), Chait (March), Baisakh +(April), Jesth (May), or Pus (December), the name may be from +the month, as Mahu, Phagu, Chaitia, Baisakhu, Jetha and Puso. The +names of the other months are also given, but are less common. If +any Government official is in the village when the child is born it +may be named after his office, as Daroga, Havildar (head-constable), +Vaccinator, Patwari (village surveyor), Jemadar (head process-server), +or Munshi (clerk). If a European officer is in the village the child +may be called Gora (red) or Bhura (brown). Other names are Zamindar +(landholder) or Kirsan (tenant). Or the child may be named after any +peculiarity, as Ghurman, fat, Kaluta, black, Chatua, one who kicks, +and so on. Or it may be given a bad name in order to deceive the +evil spirits as to its value, as Ghurha, a heap of cowdung, Jharu, +sweepings, Dumre or Bhangi, a sweeper, Chamari, a Chamar or tanner, and +so on. If the mother has got the child after propitiating a spirit, +it may be called Bhuta, from bhut, a spirit or ghost. Nicknames +are also given to people when they grow up, as Dariya, long-footed, +Bobdi, fat and sluggish, Putchi, having a tail or cat-like, Bera, an +idiot, and so on. Such names come into general use, and the bearers +accept and answer to them without objection. All the above names are +Hindi. Names taken from the Gond language are rare or non-existent, +and it would appear either that they have been completely forgotten, +or else that the Gonds had not advanced to the stage of giving every +individual a personal name prior to their contact with the Hindus. + + + + +31. Superstitions about children. + +If a child is born feet first its feet are supposed to have special +power, and people suffering from pain in the back come and have their +backs touched by the toes of the child's left foot. This power is +believed to be retained in later life. If a woman gets a child when the +signs of menstruation have not appeared, the child is called Lamka, and +is held to be in danger of being struck by lightning. In order to avert +this fate an offering of a white cock is made to the lightning during +the month of Asarh (June) following the birth, when thunderstorms are +frequent, and prayer is made that it will accept this sacrifice in lieu +of the life of the child. They think that the ancestors who have been +mingled with Bura Deo may be born again. Sometimes such an ancestor +appears in a dream and intimates that he is coming back to earth. Then +if a newborn child will not drink its mother's milk, they think it is +some important male ancestor, and that he is vexed at being in such a +dependent position to a woman over whom he formerly had authority. So +they call the Gunia or sorcerer, and he guesses what ancestor has been +reborn by measuring a stick. He says that if the length of the stick +is an even number of times the breadth of his hand, or more or less +than half a hand-breadth over, such and such an ancestor is reborn +in the child. Then he measures his hand along the stick breadthwise, +and when the measurement comes to that foretold for a particular +ancestor he says that this one has been reborn; or if they find any +mark on the body of the child corresponding to one they remember to +have been borne by a particular ancestor, they identify it with this +ancestor. Then they wash the child's feet as a token of respect, and +pass their hands over its head and say to it, 'Drink milk, and we will +give you a ring and clothes and jewels.' Sometimes they think that an +ancestor has been born again in a calf, and the Gunia ascertains who +he is in the same manner. Then this calf is not castrated if a bull, +nor put to the plough if it is a cow, and when it dies they will not +take off its hide for sale but bury it with the hide on. + +It is believed that if a barren woman can get hold of the first hair +of another woman's child or its navel-cord, she can transfer the +mother's fertility to herself, so they dispose of these articles +very carefully. If they wish the child to grow fat, they bury the +navel-cord in a manure-heap. The upper milk teeth are thrown on to +the roof, and the lower ones buried under a water-pot. They say that +the upper ones should be in a high place, and the lower ones in a low +place. The teeth thrown on the roof may be meant for the rats, who in +exchange for them will give the child strong white teeth like their +own, while those thrown under the water-pot will cause the new teeth +to grow large and quickly, like the grass under a water-pot. Diseases +of children are attributed to evil spirits. The illness called Sukhi, +in which the body and limbs grow weak and have a dried-up appearance, +is very common, and is probably caused by malnutrition. They attribute +it to the machinations of an owl which has heard the child's name +or obtained a piece of its soiled clothing. If a stone or piece of +wood is thrown at the owl to scare it away, it will pick this up, +and after wetting it in a stream, put it out in the sun to dry. As +the stone or wood dries up, so will the child's body dry up and +wither. In order to cure this illness they use charms and amulets, +and also let the child wallow in a pig-sty so that it may become +as fat as the pigs. They say that they always beat a brass dish at +a birth so that the noise may penetrate the child's ears, and this +will remove any obstruction there may be to its hearing. If the child +appears to be deaf, they lay it several times in a deep grain-bin for +about half an hour at a time; when it cries the noise echoes in the +bin, and this is supposed to remove the obstruction to its power of +hearing. If they wish the boy to be a good dancer, they get a little +of the flesh of the kingfisher or hawk which hangs poised in the air +over water by the rapid vibration of its wings, on the look-out for +a fish, and give him this to eat. If they wish him to speak well, +they touch his finger with the tip of a razor, and think that he will +become talkative like a barber. If they want him to run fast, they +look for a stone on which a hare has dropped some dung and rub this +on his legs, or they get a piece of a deer's horn and hang it round +his neck as a charm. If a girl or boy is very dark-coloured, they get +the branches of a creeper called malkangni, and express the oil from +them, and rub it on the child's face, and think it will make the face +reddish. Thus they apparently consider a black colour to be ugly. + + + + +(e) Funeral Rites + + +32. Disposal of the dead. + +Burial of the dead has probably been the general custom of the Gonds in +the past, and the introduction of cremation may be ascribed to Hindu +influence. The latter method of disposal involves greater expense on +account of the fuel, and is an honour reserved for elders and important +men, though in proportion as the body of the tribe in any locality +becomes well-to-do it may be more generally adopted. The dead are +usually buried with the feet pointing to the north in opposition to +the Hindu practice, and this fact has been adduced in evidence of the +Gond belief that their ancestors came from the north. The Maria Gonds +of Bastar, however, place the feet to the west in the direction of +the setting sun, and with the face upwards. In some places the Hindu +custom of placing the head to the north has been adopted. Formerly +it is said that the dead were buried in or near the house in which +they died, so that their spirits would thus the more easily be born +again in children, but this practice has now ceased. In most British +Districts Hindu ceremonial [68] tends more and more to be adopted, +but in Bastar State and Chanda some interesting customs remain. + + + + +33. Funeral ceremony. + +Among the Maria Gonds a drum is beaten to announce a death, and the +news is sent to relatives and friends in other villages. The funeral +takes place on the second or third day, when these have assembled. They +bring some pieces of cloth, and these, together with the deceased's own +clothes and some money, are buried with him, so that they may accompany +his spirit to the other world. Sometimes the women will put a ring +of iron on the body. The body is borne on a hurdle to the burial- +or burning-ground, which is invariably to the east of the village, +followed by all the men and women of the place. Arrived there, the +bearers with the body on their shoulders face round to the west, +and about ten yards in front of them are placed three saj leaves in +a line with a space of a yard between each, the first representing +the supreme being, the second disembodied spirits, and the third +witchcraft. Sometimes a little rice is put on the leaves. An axe +is struck three times on the ground, and a villager now cries to the +corpse to disclose the cause of his death, and immediately the bearers, +impelled, as they believe, by the dead man, carry the body to one of +the leaves. If they halt before the first, then the death was in the +course of nature; if before the second, it arose from the anger of +offended spirits; if before the third, witchcraft was the cause. The +ordeal may be thrice repeated, the arrangement of the leaves being +changed each time. If witchcraft is indicated as the cause of death, +and confirmed by the repeated tests, the corpse is asked to point out +the sorcerer or witch, and the body is carried along until it halts +before some one in the crowd, who is at once seized and disposed of as +a witch. Sometimes the corpse may be carried to the house of a witch in +another village to a distance of eight or ten miles. In Mandla in such +cases a Gunia or exorciser formerly called on the corpse to go forward +and point out the witch. The bearers then, impelled by the corpse, +made one step forward and stopped. The exorciser then again adjured the +corpse, and they made a step, and this was repeated again and again +until they halted in front of the supposed witch. All the beholders +and the bearers themselves thus thought that they were impelled by +the corpse, and the episode is a good illustration of the power of +suggestion. Frequently the detected witch was one of the deceased's +wives. In Mandla the cause of the man's death was determined in the +digging of his grave. When piling in the earth removed for the grave +after burial, if it reached exactly to the surface of the ground, +they thought that the dead man had died after living the proper span +of his life. If the earth made a mound over the hole, they thought +he had lived beyond his allotted time and called him Sigpur, that is +a term for a measure of grain heaped as high as it will stand above +the brim. But if the earth was insufficient and did not reach to the +level of the ground, they held that he had been prematurely cut off, +and had been killed by an enemy or by a witch through magic. + +Children at breast are buried at the roots of a mahua tree, as it +is thought that they will suck liquor from them and be nourished as +if by their mother's milk. The mahua is the tree from whose flowers +spirits are distilled. The body of an adult may also be burnt under +a mahua tree so that the tree may give him a supply of liquor in the +next world. Sometimes the corpse is bathed in water, sprinkled over +with milk and then anointed with a mixture of mahua oil, turmeric +and charcoal, which will prevent it from being reincarnated in +a human body. In the case of a man killed by a tiger the body is +burned, and a bamboo image of a tiger is made and thrown outside +the village. None but the nearest relatives will touch the body of a +man killed by a tiger, and they only because they are obliged to do +so. None of the ornaments are removed from the corpse, and sometimes +any other ornaments possessed by the deceased are added to them, as it +is thought that otherwise the tiger into which his spirit passes will +come back to look for them and kill some other person in the house. In +some localities any one who touches the body of a man killed or even +wounded by a tiger or panther is put temporarily out of caste. Yet the +Gonds will eat the flesh of tigers and panthers, and also of animals +killed and partly devoured by them. When a man has been killed by a +tiger, or when he has died of disease and before death vermin have +appeared in a wound, the whole family are temporarily out of caste +and have to be purified by an elaborate ceremony in which the Bhumka +or village priest officiates. The method of laying the spirit of a +man killed by a tiger resembles that described in the article on Baiga. + + + + +34. Mourning and offerings to the dead. + +Mourning is usually observed for three days. The mourners abstain +from work and indulgence in luxuries, and the house is cleaned and +washed. The Gonds often take food on the spot after the burial or +burning of a corpse and they usually drink liquor. On the third day +a feast is given. In Chhindwara a bullock or cow is slaughtered on +the death of a male or female Gond respectively. They tie it up by +the horns to a tree so that its forelegs are in the air, and a man +slashes it across the head once or twice until it dies. The head +is buried under a platform outside the village in the name of the +deceased. Sometimes the spirit of the dead man is supposed to enter +into one of the persons present and inform the party how he died, +whether from witchcraft or by natural causes. He also points out the +place where the bullock's or cow's head is to be buried, and here +they make a platform to his spirit with a memorial stone. Red lead is +applied to the stone and the blood of a chicken poured over it, and +the party then consume the bodies of the cow and chicken. In Mandla +the mourners are shaved at the grave nine or ten days after the death +by the brother-in-law or son-in-law of the deceased, and they cook +and eat food there and drink liquor. Then they come home and put +oil on the head of the heir and tie a piece of new cloth round his +head. They give the dead man's clothes and also a cow or bullock to +the Pardhan priest, and offer a goat to the dead man, first feeding +the animal with rice, and saying to the dead man's spirit, 'Your son- +or brother-in-law has given you this.' Sometimes the rule is that the +priest should receive all the ornaments worn on the right side of a +man or the left side of a woman, including those on the head, arm and +leg. If they give him a cow or bullock, they will choose the one which +goes last when the animals are let out to graze. Then they cook and +eat it in the compound. They have no regular anniversary ceremonies, +but on the new moon of Kunwar (September) they will throw some rice +and pulse in front of the house and pour water on it in honour of the +dead. The widow breaks her glass bangles when the funeral takes place, +and if she is willing she may be married to the dead man's younger +brother on the expiry of the period of mourning. + + + + +35. Memorial stones to the dead. + +In Bastar, at some convenient time after the death, a stone is set +up in memory of any dead person who was an adult, usually by the +roadside. Families who have emigrated to other localities often return +to their parent village for setting up these stones. The stones vary +according to the importance of the deceased, those for prominent men +being sometimes as much as eight feet high. In some places a small +stone seat is made in front, and this is meant for the deceased to +sit on, the memorial stone being his house. After being placed in +position the stone is anointed with turmeric, curds, ghi and oil, +and a cow or pig is offered to it. Afterwards irregular offerings +of liquor and tobacco are made to the dead man at the stone by the +family and also by strangers passing by. They believe that the memorial +stones sometimes grow and increase in size, and if this happens they +think that the dead man's family will become extinct, as the stone +and the family cannot continue to grow together. Elsewhere a long +heap of stones is made in honour of a dead man, sometimes with a +flat-topped post at the head. This is especially done for men who +have died from epidemic disease or by an accident, and passers-by +fling stones on the heap with the idea that the dead man's spirit +will thereby be kept down and prevented from returning to trouble +the living. In connection with the custom of making a seat at the +deceased's tomb for his spirit to sit upon, Mr. A. K. Smith writes: +"It is well known to every Gond that ghosts and devils cannot squat on +the bare ground like human beings, and must be given something to sit +on. The white man who requires a chair to sit on is thus plainly akin +to the world of demons, so one of the few effective ways of getting +Gonds to open their mouths and talk freely is to sit on the ground +among them. Outside every Gond house is placed a rough bench for +the accommodation of any devils that may be flitting about at night, +so that they may not come indoors and trouble the inmates." + + + + +36. House abandoned after a death. + +If one or two persons die in a house in one year, the family often +leave it and make another house. On quitting the old house they knock +a hole in the back wall to go out, so as to avoid going out by the +front door. This is usually done when the deaths have been due to an +epidemic, and it is presumably supposed that the dead men's spirits +will haunt the house and cause others to die, from spite at their +own untimely end. If an epidemic visits a village, the Gonds will +also frequently abandon it, and make a new village on another site. + + + + +37. Bringing back the soul. + +They believe that the spirits of ancestors are reincarnated in children +or in animals. Sometimes they make a mark with soot or vermilion +on the body of a dead man, and if some similar mark is subsequently +found on any newborn child it is held that the dead man's spirit has +been reborn in it. In Bastar, on some selected day a short time after +the death, they obtain two small baskets and set them out at night, +placing a chicken under one and some flour of wheat or kutki under +the other. The householder then says, "I do the work of those old men +who died. O spirits, I offer a chicken to you to-day; be true and I +will perform your funeral rites to-morrow." On the next morning the +basket placed over the flour is lifted up, and if a mark resembling a +footprint of a man or any animal be found, they think that the deceased +has become incarnate in a human being or in that animal. Subsequently +they sacrifice a cow to the spirit as described. In other places on +the fifth day after death they perform the ceremony of bringing back +the soul. The relatives go to the riverside and call aloud the name +of the dead person, and then enter the river, catch a fish or insect +and, taking it home, place it among the sainted dead of the family, +believing that the spirit of the dead person has in this manner been +brought back to the house. The brother-in-law or son-in-law of the dead +man will make a miniature grass hut in the compound and place the fish +or insect inside it. He will then sacrifice a pig, killing it with a +rice-husker, and with not more than three blows. The animal is eaten, +and next morning he breaks down the hut and throws away the earthen +pots from the house. They will spread some flour on the ground and in +the morning bring a chicken up to it. If the animal eats the flour +they say that the soul of the deceased has shown his wish to remain +in the house, and he is enshrined there in the shape of a stone or +copper coin. If it does not eat, then they say that the spirit will not +remain in the house. They take the stone or coin outside the village, +sacrifice a chicken to it and bury it under a heap of stones to prevent +it from returning. Sometimes at the funeral ceremony one of the party +is possessed by the spirit of the dead man, and a little white mark or +a small caterpillar appears on his hand, and they say that it is the +soul of the dead man come back. Then the caterpillar vanishes again, +and they say that the dead man has been taken among the gods, and go +home. Occasionally some mark may appear on the hand of the dead man's +son after a period of time, and he says that his father's soul has +come back, and gives another funeral feast. The good souls are quickly +appeased and their veneration is confined to their descendants. But +the bad ones excite a wider interest because their evil influences may +be extended to others. And the same fear attaches to the spirits of +persons who have died a violent or unnatural death. The soul of a man +who has been eaten by a tiger must be specially propitiated, and ten +or twelve days are occupied in bringing it back. To ascertain when +this has been done a thread is tied to a beam and a copper ring is +suspended from it, being secured by twisting the thread round it and +not by a knot. A pot full of water is placed below the ring. Songs are +then sung in propitiation and a watch is kept day and night. When the +ring falls from the thread and drops into the water it is considered +that the soul has come back. If the ring delays to fall they adjure +the dead man to come back and ask where he has gone to and why he +is tarrying. Animals are offered to the ring and their blood poured +over it, and when it finally falls they rejoice greatly and say +that the dead man has come back. The ancestors are represented by +small pebbles kept in a basket in the kitchen, which is considered +the holiest part of the house, or they may be pice copper coins +(1/4d.) tied up in a little bundle. They are daubed with vermilion +and worshipped occasionally. A man who has been killed by a tiger or +cobra may receive general veneration, with the object of appeasing +his spirit, and become a village god. And the same honour may be +accorded to any prominent man, such as the founder of a village. + + + + +38. The dead absorbed in Bura Deo. + +In Mandla the dead are sometimes mingled with Bura Deo or the Great +God. On the occasion of a communal sacrifice to Bura Deo a stalk of +charra grass is picked in the name of each of the dead ancestors, and +tied to the little bundle containing a pice and a piece of turmeric, +which represents the dead ancestor in the house. The stalk of grass +and the bundle is called kunda; and all the kundas are then hidden in +grass or under stones in the adjacent forest. Then Bura Deo comes on +some man and possesses him, and he waves his arms about and goes and +finds all the kundas. Some of them he throws down beside Bura Deo, +and these they say have been absorbed in Bura Deo and are disposed +of. Others he throws apart, and these are said not to have been +absorbed into the god. For the latter, as well as for all persons who +have died a violent death, a heap of stones should be made outside the +village, and wine and a fowl are offered at the heap, and passers-by +cast additional stones on it to keep down their spirits, which remain +unquiet because they have not been absorbed in the god, and are apt +to wander about and trouble the living. + + + + +39. Belief in a future life. + +The Gonds seem originally to have had no idea of a place of abode for +the spirits of the dead, that is a heaven or hell. So far as can be +conjectured, their primary view of the fate of the spirits of the dead, +after they had come to consider the soul or spirit as surviving the +death of the body, was that they hung about the houses and village +where they had dwelt, and were able to exert considerable influence +on the lives and fortunes of their successors. An alternative or +subsequent view was that they were reincarnated, most frequently in +the bodies of children born in the same family, and less frequently in +animals. Whether or no this doctrine of reincarnation is comparatively +late and borrowed from Hinduism cannot be decided. In Bastar, however, +they have now a conception of retribution after death for the souls +of evil-doers. They say that the souls are judged after death, and +the sinful are hurled down into a dense forest without any sulphi +trees. The sulphi tree appears to be that variety of palm from which +palm-liquor or toddy is obtained in Bastar, and the Gond idea of a +place of punishment for departed sinners is, therefore, one in which +no alcoholic liquor is to be had. + + + + +(f) Religion + + +40. Nature of the Gond religion. The gods. + +The religious practices of the Gonds present much variety. The tribal +divisions into groups worshipping seven, six, five and four gods, +already referred to, are generally held to refer to the number of +gods which a man has in his house. But very few Gonds can name the +gods of their sect, and the prescribed numbers are seldom adhered +to. The worship of ancestors is an integral part of their religion +and is described in the section on funeral customs. Bura Deo, their +great god in most localities, was probably at first the saj tree, +[69] but afterwards the whole collection of gods were sometimes +called Bura Deo. He is further discussed subsequently. The other +Gond gods proper appear to be principally implements and weapons of +the chase, one or two animals, and deified human beings. A number of +Hindu deities have now also been admitted into the Gond pantheon. The +following account of the gods is largely taken from a note written +by Mr. J. A. Tawney. [70] The worship of the Gonds may be summarised +as that of the gods presiding over the village destinies, the crops, +and epidemic disease, the spirits of their forefathers and the weapons +and creatures of the chase. The village gods are generally common +to the Gonds and Hindus. They consist of stones, or mud platforms, +placed at a convenient distance from the village under the shade of +some appropriate tree, and often having a red or white flag, made +of a piece of cloth, tied to the end of a pole to indicate their +position. The principal village gods have been given in the article +on Kurmi. Besides these in Gond villages there is especially Bhimsen, +who is held to be Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers, and is the +god of strength. Ghor Deo [71] is the horse god, and Holera, who is +represented by a wooden bullock's bell, is the god of cattle. Ghansiam +Deo is a god much worshipped in Mandla. He is said to have been a +prince who was killed by a tiger on his way to his wedding like Dulha +Deo. In northern Bastar the Gonds worship the spirit of a Muhammadan +doctor under the name of Doctor Deo. A Gond of the place where the +doctor died is occasionally possessed by his spirit, and on such +occasions he can talk fluent Urdu. This man's duty is to keep off +cholera, and when the epidemic breaks out he is ordered by the Raja +to drive it away. The local method of averting cholera is to make a +small litter covered with cloth, and in it to place a brass or silver +image of the cholera goddess, Marai Mata. When the goddess is thus +sent from one village to another it is supposed that the epidemic is +similarly transferred. The man possessed by Doctor Deo has the power +of preventing the approach of this litter to villages in Bastar, and +apparently also can drive away the epidemic, though his method of doing +this is not explained. The dealings of the Gonds with the Government +of India are mainly conducted through chuprassies or peons, who come to +collect their revenue, obtain supplies and so on. The peons have in the +past been accustomed to abuse their authority and practise numerous +petty extortions, which is a very easy business with the ignorant +Gonds of the wilder tracts. Regarding the peons as the visible emblem +of authority, the Gonds, like the Oraons, have similarly furnished the +gods with a peon, who is worshipped under the name of Kalha Deo with +offerings of liquor and fowls. Besides this if a tiger makes himself +troublesome a stone is set up in his honour and he receives a small +offering; and if a platform has been erected to the memory of the +founder of the village he is included with the others. The cholera +and smallpox deities are worshipped when an epidemic breaks out. The +worship of the village gods is communal, and in Chhindwara is performed +at the end of the hot weather before seed is sown, houses thatched, +or the new mahua oil eaten by the Gonds. All the villagers subscribe, +and the Bhumka or village priest conducts the rite. If in any year +the community cannot afford a public worship they hang up a little +grass over the god just to intimate that they have not forgotten him, +but that he will have to wait till next year. + + + + +41. Tribal gods, and their place of residence. + +Besides the village gods worshipped in common with the Hindus, the +Gonds have also their special tribal gods. These are sometimes kept +at a Deo-khulla, which is said to mean literally the threshing-floor +of the gods, and is perhaps so called because the place of meeting of +the worshippers is cleaned and plastered like a threshing-floor in the +fields. The gods most commonly found are Pharsi Pen, the battle-axe +god; Matiya, the great god of mischief; Ghangra, the bell god; Chawar, +the cow's tail, which is also used as a whisk; Palo, who consists of +a piece of cloth used to cover spear-heads; and Sale, who may be the +god who presides over cattle-pens (sala). The Deo-khulla of a six-god +Gond should have six, and that of a seven-god Gond seven gods, but +this rule is not regularly observed, and the Deo-khullas themselves +now tend to disappear as the Gonds become Hinduised and attention is +concentrated on the village and household gods. The collection of gods +at a Deo-khulla, Mr. Tawney remarks, is called Bura Deo, and when a +Gond swears by Bura Deo, he swears by all the gods of his sect. "The +gods," Mr. Tawney writes, "are generally tied up in grass and fixed +in the fork of the saj tree, or buried in some recess in the forest, +except Palo, who is put in a bag to prevent his getting wet, and Chawar +the cow's tail. The Bhumkas or priests are somewhat shy of showing +the gods at the Deo-khulla, and they may have some reason for this, +for not long since, a young scamp of a Muhammadan, having determined +to put to a test the reputed powers of the Gond gods for evil, hid +himself in a tree near the Deo-khulla during a meeting, and afterwards +took the gods out and threw them bag and baggage down a well. However, +when I went there, the Bhumka at Mujawar after some parley retired into +the forest, and came out quite confidingly with an armful of gods. The +Deo-khulla gods are generally all of iron, and those at Mujawar were +all spear-shaped except Palo, who is a piece of cloth, and Ghangra, +who is of bell-metal and in form like the bells ordinarily put round +the necks of bullocks. When a spear-head has been lost, and another is +not available, anything in the shape of a pike or spear will do, and +it does not appear to make any difference so long as iron is the metal +used. Women may not worship at the Deo-khulla. It seems clear that the +original gods were, with the exception of Ghangra, hunting-weapons and +representations of animals. Ghangra may be venerated because of his +association with bullocks and also on account of the melodious sound +made by bullock-bells. Of all the gods the most remarkable probably is +Palo. He is made of cloth and acts as a covering for the spear-heads +at the time of worship. The one I saw was a small cloth, about 30 by +18 inches, and in the form of a shield. He is a very expensive god +and costs from Rs. 50 to Rs. 80, his outside value perhaps being +Rs. 5. When a new one is required it has to be made by a Katia or +Raj-Pardhan, who must live in a separate house and not go near his +own till its completion. He must also be naked while he is working +and may not eat, drink, smoke or perform natural functions till he +has finished for the day. While engaged on the cloth he is well fed by +the Gonds and supplied with fowls and spirits; it is not surprising, +therefore, that the god is never finished in six months, though I would +engage to make one in a week. The cloth is embroidered with figures +in coloured silk, with a stitch or two of red silk in each animal, +which will subsequently represent blood. The animals I saw embroidered +were a bullock, some sort of deer, a gouty-looking snake with a body as +thick as the elephant's, and the latter animal barely distinguishable +from it by having two legs and a trunk. When ready the cloth Palo is +taken to the Deo-khulla and a great worship is held, during which blood +is seen to flow from the figures on the cloth and they are supposed +to be endowed with life." The animals embroidered on the cloth are +probably those principally revered by the Gonds, as the elephant, +snake, deer and bullock, while the worship of the cloth itself and the +embroidery on it indicates that they considered the arts of weaving +and sewing as divinely revealed accomplishments. And the fact that +the other gods were made of iron shows a similar reverence for this +metal, which they perhaps first discovered in India. At any rate the +quarrying and refining of indigenous iron-ore is at present carried +out by the Agarias, a caste derived from the Gonds. The spear-head +shape of most of the gods and that of Palo like a shield show their +veneration for these weapons of war, which are themselves sacred. + + + + +42. Household gods. + +"In almost every house," Mr. Tawney states, "there is also a set of +gods for everyday use. They are often the same as the village gods +or those of the Deo-khulla and also include deified ancestors. These +household gods have a tendency to increase, as special occasions +necessitate the creation of a new god, and once he is enthroned in +the house he never seems to leave it of his own accord. Thus if a man +is killed by a cobra; he or the cobra becomes a household god and +is worshipped for many generations. If a set of gods does not work +satisfactorily, they are also, some or all of them, discarded and a +new lot introduced. The form of the gods varies considerably, the only +constant thing about them being the vermilion with which they are all +daubed. They are sometimes all earthen cones and vary from that to +miniature wooden tables. I may mention that it is somewhat difficult +to get a Gond either to confess that he has any household gods or +to show them. The best way is to send off the father of the family +on some errand, and then to ask his unsuspecting wife to bring out +the gods. You generally get them on a tray and some of the villagers +will help her to name them." In Mandla in every Gond's house there +is a Deothana or god's place, where all the gods are kept. Those who +have children include Jhulan Devi, or the cradle goddess, among their +household deities. In the Deothana there is always a vessel full of +water and a stick, and when a man comes in from outside he goes to +this and sprinkles a little water over his body to free himself from +any impurity he may have contracted abroad. + + + + +43. Nag Deo. + +On one of the posts of the house the image of Nag Deo, the cobra +god, is made in mud. In Asarh (June) the first month of the rains, +which the Gonds consider the beginning of the year, snakes frequently +appear. In this month they try to kill a cobra, and will then cut +off the head and tail, and offer them to Nag Deo, inside the house, +while they cook and eat the body. They think that the eating of +the snake's body will protect them from the effects of eating any +poisonous substance throughout the year. + + + + +44. Narayan Deo. + +Narayan Deo or the sun is also a household deity. He has a little +platform inside the threshold of the house. He may be worshipped every +two or three years, but if a snake appears in the house or any one +falls ill they think that Narayan Deo is impatient and perform his +worship. A young pig is offered to him and is sometimes fattened up +beforehand by feeding it on rice. The pig is laid on its back over +the threshold of the door and a number of men press a heavy beam +of wood on its body till it is crushed to death. They cut off the +tail and testicles and bury them near the threshold. The body of the +pig is washed in a hole dug in the yard, and it is then cooked and +eaten. They sing to the god, "Eat, Narayan Deo, eat this rice and +meat, and protect us from all tigers, snakes and bears in our houses; +protect us from all illnesses and troubles." Next day the bones and +any other remains of the pig are buried in the hole in the compound +and the earth is well stamped down over it. + + + + +45. Bura Deo. + +Bura Deo, the great god of the Gonds, is sometimes, as seen, a name +for all the gods in the Deo-khulla. But he is usually considered +as a single god, and often consists of a number of brass or iron +balls suspended to a ring and hung on a saj tree. Again, he may +be represented by a few links of a roughly forged iron chain also +hung on the tree, and the divine power of the chain is shown by +the fact that it can move of itself, and occasionally descends to +rest on a stone under the tree or migrates to a neighbouring nullah +(stream). Nowadays in Mandla Bura Deo is found as an iron doll made +by a neighbouring blacksmith instead of a chain. It would appear, +however, that he was originally the saj tree (Boswellia serrata), an +important forest tree growing to a considerable height, which is much +revered by the Gonds. They do not cut this tree, nor its branches, +except for ceremonial purposes, and their most sacred form of oath +is to swear by the name of Bura Deo, holding a branch of the saj tree +above the head. If Bura Deo was first the saj tree, then we may surmise +that when the Gonds discovered iron they held it more sacred than the +tree because it was more important, as the material from which their +axes and spears were made. And therefore Bura Deo became an iron chain +hanging on the saj tree. The axe is a Gond's most valuable implement, +as with it he cut down the forest to clear a space for his shifting +cultivation, and also provided himself with wood for hutting, fuel and +other purposes. The axe and spear were also his weapons of war. Hence +the discovery of iron was an enormous step forward in civilisation, +and this may account for the reverence in which it is held by the +Gonds. The metamorphosis of Bura Deo from an iron chain to an iron +doll may perhaps be considered to mark the arrival of the Gonds at the +stage of religion when anthropomorphic gods are worshipped. Bura Deo +is sometimes represented with Mahadeo or Siva and Parvati, two of the +greatest Hindu deities, in attendance on him on each side. Communal +sacrifices of pigs and also of goats are made to him at intervals +of one or two years; the animals are stretched out on their backs +and killed by driving a stake of saj or tendu [72] wood through +the belly. Sometimes a goat is dedicated to him a year beforehand, +and allowed to wander loose in the village in the name of Bura Deo, +and given good food, and even called by the name of the god. It would +appear that the original sacrificial animal was the pig, and the goat +was afterwards added or substituted. Bura Deo is also worshipped on +special occasions, as when a man has got vermin in a wound, or, as +the people of the country say, when god has remembered him. In this +case the sufferer must pay all the expenses of the ceremony which is +necessary for his purification. The dead are also mingled in Bura Deo, +as described in the section on funeral rites. Bura Deo is believed +to protect the Gonds from wild animals; and if members of a family +meet a tiger, snake or other dangerous animal several times within +a fairly short period, they think that Bura Deo is displeased with +them and have a special sacrifice in his honour. Ordinarily when +the Panda or priest sacrifices an animal he severs its head with an +axe and holds the head over the image or symbol of the god to allow +the blood to drop on it. Before sacrificing a chicken he places some +grain before it and says, 'If I have committed no fault, eat,' and +if the chicken does not eat of itself he usually forces it to pick +a grain. Then he says that the sacrifice is acceptable to the god. + + + + +46. Charms and magic. + +When they think a child has been overlooked they fetch a strip of +leather from the Chamar's house, make it into a little bag, fill +it with scrapings from a clean bit of leather, and hang it round +the child's neck. If a child is ill they sometimes fetch from the +Chamar's house water which has been used for tanning and give it him +to drink. If a man is possessed by an evil spirit, they will take +some coins, silver for preference, and wave them round his head with +a lamp, and take them out and bury them in a waste place. They throw +one or two more rupees on the surface of the soil in which they have +buried the coins. Then they think the spirit will leave the sufferer, +and if any one picks up the coins on the surface of the ground the +spirit will possess him. Hindus who find such buried coins frequently +refuse to take them, even though they may be valuable, from fear of +being possessed by the spirit. Occasionally a man of a treacherous +disposition may transfer an evil spirit, which is haunting him, with +a daughter in marriage. The husband's family suspect this if a spirit +begins to trouble them. A Vaddai or magician is called, and he tries +to transfer the spirit to a fowl or goat by giving the latter some +rice to eat. If the spirit then ceases troubling they conclude that +it was transferred by the bride's father, and go to him and reproach +him. If he admits that he had a spirit in his family which has given +no trouble lately, they ask him to take it back, even though he may +not have intended its transfer. The goat or fowl to which the spirit +was transferred is then sacrificed in its name and the meat is eaten +only by the father-in-law's family, to whom the spirit thus returns. A +miniature hut is built for the spirit in his yard, and a pot, a lamp +and a knife are placed in the hut for its use, and an offering of a +goat is made to the spirit occasionally at festivals. + +In order to injure an enemy they will make an image of him in clay, +preferably taken from underneath his footprint, and carry it to +the cemetery. Here they offer red lead, red thread, bangles, and +various kinds of grain and pulse to the ghosts and say to them, +"Male and female deities, old and newly buried, maimed and lame, +spirits of the wind, I pronounce this charm with your help." Then +they pierce the figure with arrows in the chest and cut it with a +knife in the region of the liver and think that their enemy will +die. Another method is to draw the likeness of an enemy on cloth +with lime or charcoal, and bury it in a pot in front of his house on +a Sunday or Tuesday night so that he may walk on it in the morning, +when they hope that the same result will be achieved. + +In order to breed a quarrel in an enemy's house they get the feathers +of a crow, or the seeds of the amaltas, [73] or porcupine needles, and +after smoking them over a fire in which some nails have been placed, +tie them to the eaves of his house, repeating some charm. The seeds of +the amaltas rattle in their pods in the wind, and hence it is supposed +that they will produce a noise of quarrelling. Porcupine's quills are +sharp and prickly, and crow's feathers are perhaps efficacious because +the crow is supposed to be a talkative and quarrelsome bird. The nails +in the fire, being sharp-pointed, may be meant to add potency to the +charm. One who wishes to transfer sickness to another person obtains a +cloth belonging to the latter and draws two human figures on it, one +right side up and the other upside down, in lamp-black. After saying +charms over the cloth he puts it back surreptitiously in the owner's +house. When people are ill they make a vow to some god that if they +recover they will sacrifice a certain number of animals proportionate +to the severity of the illness. If the patient then recovers, and the +vow is for a larger number of animals than he can afford, he sets +fire to a piece of forest so that a number of animals may be burnt +as an offering to the god, and his vow may thus be fulfilled. This +practice has no doubt gone out owing to the conservation of forests. + + + + +47. Omens. + +If a Gond, when starting on a journey in the morning, should meet a +tiger, cat, hare, or a four-horned deer, he will return and postpone +his journey; but if he meets one of these animals when he is well +on the way it is considered to be lucky. Rain falling at a wedding +or some other festival is believed to be unlucky, as it is as if +somebody were crying. In Mandla, if a cock crows in the night, a man +will get up at once, catch it and twist its neck, and throw it over +the house as far away as he can. Apparently the cock is supposed to +be calling to evil spirits. If a hen cackles, or lays eggs at night, +it is also considered inauspicious, and the bird is often killed +or given away. They think they can acquire strength by carrying the +shoulder-bones of a tiger on their shoulders or drinking a little of +the bone-dust pounded in water. If there is disease in the village, +the Bhumka or village priest performs the ceremony of Gaon bandhna +or tying up the village. Accompanied by a party of men he drives +a pig all round the village boundary, scattering grains of urad +pulse and mustard seed on the way. The pig is then sacrificed, its +blood is sprinkled on all the village gods, and it is eaten by the +party. No man or animal may go outside the village on the day of this +ceremony, which should be performed on a Sunday or Wednesday. When +cattle disease breaks out the Bhumka makes an arch of three poles, +to which is hung a string of mango leaves, and all the cattle of the +village are driven under it to avert the disease. + + + + +48. Agricultural superstitions. + +When there is drought two boys put a pestle across their shoulders, +tie a living frog to it with a rag, and go from house to house +accompanied by other boys and girls singing: + + + Mendak Bhai pani de, + Dhan, kodon pakne de, + Mere byah hone de, + + +or 'Brother Frog give rain; let the rice and kodon ripen; let my +marriage be held.' The frog is considered to be able to produce +rain because it lives in water and therefore has control over its +element. The boy's point in asking the frog to let his marriage be +held is that if the rains failed and the crops withered, his parents +would be unable to afford the expense. Another method of obtaining +rain is for two naked women to go and harness themselves to a plough +at night, while a third naked woman drives the plough and pricks +them with a goad. This does not appear capable of explanation on any +magical basis, so far as I know, and the idea may possibly be to force +the clemency of the gods by showing their extraordinary sufferings, +or to show that the world is topsy-turvy for want of rain. A leather +rope is sometimes tied to a plough and harrow, and the boys and +girls pull against one another on the rope in a tug-of-war. If the +girls win they think that rain will soon come, but if the boys win +that it will not. In order to stop excessive rain, a naked bachelor +collects water from the eaves in a new earthen pot, covers the pot +with a lid or with mud, and buries it beneath the earth; or the pot +may be filled with salt. Here it may perhaps be supposed that, as the +water dries up in the pot or the salt gets dry, so the rain will stop +and the world generally become dry. The reason for employing women to +produce rain, and men to stop it, may be that women, as they give milk, +will be more potent in obtaining the other liquid, water. Nakedness +is a common element in magic, perhaps because clothes are considered +a civilised appanage, and unsuitable for a contest with the powers +of nature; a certain idea of impurity may also attach to them. If a +crow in carrying a straw to build its nest holds it in the middle, +they think that the rains will be normal and adequate; but if the +straw is held towards one end, that the rains will be excessive +or deficient. If the titahri or sandpiper lays four eggs properly +arranged, they think that sufficient rain will fall in all the four +monsoon months. If only one, two or three eggs are laid, or only +this number properly placed in the nest and the others at the side, +then the rains will be good only in an equivalent number of months. + +At the beginning of the harvest they pluck an ear of corn and say, +'Whatever god is the guardian of this place, this is your share, +take it, and do not interfere.' The last plants in the field are cut +and sent home by a little girl and put at the bottom of the grain-bin +of the house. Chitkuar Devi is the goddess of the threshing-floor, +and before beginning to winnow the grain they sacrifice a pig and +a chicken to her, cutting the throats of the animals and letting +their blood drop on to the central post of the threshing-floor. When +they are about to take the kodon home, they set aside a basketful +and give it to the sister's son or sister's husband of the owner, +placing a bottle of liquor on the top, and he takes it home to the +house, and there they drink one or two bottles of liquor, and then +begin eating the new grain. + + + + +49. Magical or religious observances in fishing and hunting. + +In Mandla the Gonds still perform, or did till recently, various +magical or religious rites to obtain success in fishing and +hunting. The men of a village were accustomed to go out fishing +as a communal act. They arrived at the river before sunrise, and +at midday their women brought them pej or gruel. On returning the +women made a mound or platform before the house of the principal +man of the party. All the fish caught were afterwards laid on this +platform and the leader then divided them, leaving one piece on the +platform. Next morning this piece was taken away and placed on the +grave of the leader's ancestor. If no fish were caught on the first +day, then on the next day the women took the men no food. And if they +caught no fish for two or three days running, they went and dug up +the platform erected in front of the leader's house and levelled it +with the ground. Then the next morning early all the people of the +village went to another village and danced the Sela dance before the +tombs of the ancestors of that village. Sometimes they went on to a +third village and did the same. The headman of the village visited +levied a contribution from his people, and gave them food and drink +and a present of Rs. 1-4. With this they bought liquor, and coming +back to their own village, offered it in front of the platform which +they had levelled, and drank it. Next morning they went fishing +again, but said that they did not care whether they caught anything +or not, as they had pleased their god. Next year all the people of +the village they had visited would come and dance the Sela dance at +their village the whole day, and the hosts had to give the visitors +food and drink. This was said to be from gratitude to the headman +of the other village for placating their god with an offering of +Rs. 1-4. And the visit might even be repeated annually so long as the +headman of the other village was alive. Apparently in this elaborate +ritual the platform especially represented the forefathers of the +village, whose spirits were supposed to give success in fishing. If the +fishers were unsuccessful, they demolished the platform to show their +displeasure to the spirits, and went and danced before the ancestors +of another village to intimate the transfer of their allegiance from +their own ancestors to these latter. The ancestors would thus feel +themselves properly snubbed and discarded for their ill-nature in not +giving success to the fishing party. But when they had been in this +condition for a day or so the headman of the other village sent them +an offering of liquor, and it was thus intimated to them that, though +their own descendants had temporarily transferred their devotion, +they were not entirely abandoned. It would be hoped that the ancestors +would lay the lesson to heart, and, placated by the liquor, be more +careful in future of the welfare of their descendants. The season for +fishing was in Kunwar and Kartik, and it sometimes extended into Aghan +(September to November). During these months, from the time the new +kodon was cut at the beginning of the period, they danced the Sela, +and they did not dance this dance at any other time of the year. [74] +At other seasons they would dance the Karma. The Sela dance is danced +by men alone; they have sticks and form two circles, and walk in and +out in opposite directions, beating their sticks together as they +pass. Sometimes other men sit on the shoulders of the dancers and +beat their sticks. Sela is said to be the name of the stick. In the +Sela dance the singing is in the form of Dadaria, that is, one party +recites a line and the other party replies; this is not done in the +Karma dance, for which they have regular songs. It seems possible that +the Sela dance was originally a mimic combat, danced before they went +out to fight in order to give them success in the battle. Subsequently +it might be danced before they went out hunting and fishing with the +same object. If there was no stream to which they could go fishing +they would buy some fish and offer it to the god, and have a holiday +and eat it, or if they could not go fishing they might go hunting in +a party instead. When a single Gond intends to go out hunting in the +forest he first lights a lamp before his household god in the house, +or if he has no oil he will kindle a fire, and the lamp or fire must +be kept burning all the time he is out. If he returns successful he +offers a chicken to the god and extinguishes the lamp. But if he is +unsuccessful he keeps the lamp burning all night, and goes out again +early next morning. If he gets more game this time he will offer the +chicken, but if not he will extinguish the lamp, put his gun outside +and not touch it again for eight days. A Gond never takes food in the +morning before going out hunting, but goes out in a fasting condition +perhaps in order that the god, seeing his hunger, may send him some +game to eat. Nor will a Gond visit his wife the night before he goes +out hunting. When a Baiga goes out hunting he bangs his liquor-gourd +on the ground before his household god and vows that, if successful, +he will offer to the god the gourd full of liquor and a chicken. But +if he returns empty-handed, instead of doing this he fills the gourd +with earth and throws it over the god to show his wrath. Then if +he is successful on the next day, he will scrape off the earth and +offer the liquor and chicken as promised. A Baiga should worship his +god and go out hunting at the new moon, and then he will hunt the +whole month. But if he has not worshipped his god at the new moon, +and still goes out hunting and is unsuccessful, he will hunt no more +that month. Some Gonds before they go hunting draw an image of Mahabir +or Hanuman, the monkey god and the god of strength, on their guns, +and rub it out when they get home again. + + + + +50. Witchcraft. + +The belief in witchcraft has been till recently in full force and +vigour among the Gonds, and is only now showing symptoms of decline. In +1871 Sir C. Grant wrote: [75] "The wild hill country from Mandla to +the eastern coast is believed to be so infested by witches that at +one time no prudent father would let his daughter marry into a family +which did not include among its members at least one of the dangerous +sisterhood. The non-Aryan belief in the power of evil here strikes a +ready chord in the minds of their conquerors, attuned to dread by the +inhospitable appearance of the country and the terrible effect of its +malicious influences upon human life. In the wilds of Mandla there are +many deep hillside caves which not even the most intrepid Baiga hunter +would approach for fear of attracting upon himself the wrath of their +demoniac inhabitants; and where these hillmen, who are regarded both +by themselves and by others as ministers between men and spirits, +are afraid, the sleek cultivator of the plains must feel absolute +repulsion. Then the suddenness of the epidemics to which, whether from +deficient water-supply or other causes, Central India seems so subject, +is another fruitful source of terror among an ignorant people. When +cholera breaks out in a wild part of the country it creates a perfect +stampede--villages, roads, and all works in progress are deserted; +even the sick are abandoned by their nearest relations to die, and +crowds fly to the jungles, there to starve on fruits and berries till +the panic has passed off. The only consideration for which their minds +have room at such times is the punishment of the offenders, for the +ravages caused by the disease are unhesitatingly set down to human +malice. The police records of the Central Provinces unfortunately +contain too many sad instances of life thus sacrificed to a mad +unreasoning terror." The detection of a witch by the agency of the +corpse, when the death is believed to have been caused by witchcraft, +has been described in the section on funeral rites. In other cases a +lamp was lighted and the names of the suspected persons repeated; the +flicker of the lamp at any name was held to indicate the witch. Two +leaves were thrown on the outstretched hand of a suspected person, +and if the leaf representing her or him fell above the other suspicion +was deepened. In Bastar the leaf ordeal was followed by sewing the +person accused into a sack and letting her down into shallow water; +if she managed in her struggles for life to raise her head above water +she was finally adjudged to be guilty. A witch was beaten with rods +of the tamarind or castor-oil plants, which were supposed to be of +peculiar efficacy in such cases; her head was shaved cross-wise from +one ear to the other over the head and down to the neck; her teeth were +sometimes knocked out, perhaps to prevent her from doing mischief if +she should assume the form of a tiger or other wild animal; she was +usually obliged to leave the village, and often murdered. Murder for +witchcraft is now comparatively rare as it is too often followed by +detection and proper punishment. But the belief in the causation of +epidemic disease by personal agency is only slowly declining. Such +measures as the disinfection of wells by permanganate of potash during +a visitation of cholera, or inoculation against plague, are sometimes +considered as attempts on the part of the Government to reduce the +population. When the first epidemic of plague broke out in Mandla in +1911 it caused a panic among the Gonds, who threatened to attack with +their axes any Government officer who should come to their village, +in the belief that all of them must be plague-inoculators. In the +course of six months, however, the feeling of panic died down under a +system of instruction by schoolmasters and other local officials and +by circulars; and by the end of the period the Gonds began to offer +themselves voluntarily for inoculation, and would probably have come +to do so in fairly large numbers if the epidemic had not subsided. + + + + +51. Human sacrifice. [76] + +The Gonds were formerly accustomed to offer human sacrifices, +especially to the goddess Kali and to the goddess Danteshwari, the +tutelary deity of the Rajas of Bastar. Her shrine was at a place called +Dantewara, and she was probably at first a local goddess and afterwards +identified with the Hindu goddess Kali. An inscription recently found +in Bastar records the grant of a village to a Medipota in order to +secure the welfare of the people and their cattle. This man was the +head of a community whose business it was, in return for the grants of +land which they enjoyed, to supply victims for human sacrifice either +from their own families or elsewhere. Tradition states that on one +occasion as many as 101 persons were sacrificed to avert some great +calamity which had befallen the country. And sacrifices also took place +when the Raja visited the temple. During the period of the Bhonsla rule +early in the nineteenth century the Raja of Bastar was said to have +immolated twenty-five men before he set out to visit the Raja of Nagpur +at his capital. This would no doubt be as an offering for his safety, +and the lives of the victims were given as a substitute for his own. A +guard was afterwards placed on the temple by the Marathas, but reports +show that human sacrifice was not finally stamped out until the Nagpur +territories lapsed to the British in 1853. At Chanda and Lanji also, +Mr. Hislop states, human sacrifices were offered until well into the +nineteenth century [77] at the temples of Kali. The victim was taken +to the temple after sunset and shut up within its dismal walls. In +the morning, when the door was opened, he was found dead, much to the +glory of the great goddess, who had shown her power by coming during +the night and sucking his blood. No doubt there must have been some +of her servants hid in the fane whose business it was to prepare the +horrid banquet. It is said that an iron plate was afterwards put over +the face of the goddess to prevent her from eating up the persons +going before her. In Chanda the legend tells that the families of +the town had each in turn to supply a victim to the goddess. One day +a mother was weeping bitterly because her only son was to be taken +as the victim, when an Ahir passed by, and on learning the cause of +her sorrow offered to go instead. He took with him the rope of hair +with which the Ahirs tie the legs of their cows when milking them +and made a noose out of it. When the goddess came up to him he threw +the noose over her neck and drew it tight like a Thug. The goddess +begged him to let her go, and he agreed to do so on condition that +she asked for no more human victims. No doubt, if the legend has any +foundation, the Ahir found a human neck within his noose. It has been +suggested in the article on Thug that the goddess Kali is really the +deified tiger, and if this were so her craving for human sacrifices +is readily understood. All the three places mentioned, Dantewara, +Lanji and Chanda, are in a territory where tigers are still numerous, +and certain points in the above legends favour the idea of this animal +origin of the goddess. Such are the shutting of the victim in the +temple at night as an animal is tied up for a tiger-kill, and the +closing of her mouth with an iron plate as the mouths of tigers are +sometimes supposed to be closed by magic. Similarly it may perhaps be +believed that the Raja of Bastar offered human sacrifices to protect +himself and his party from the attacks of tigers, which would be the +principal danger on a journey to Nagpur. In Mandla there is a tradition +that a Brahman boy was formerly sacrificed at intervals to the god Bura +Deo, and the forehead of the god was marked with his hair in place +of sandalwood, and the god bathed in his blood and used his bones as +sticks for playing at ball. Similarly in Bindranawagarh in Raipur the +Gonds are said to have entrapped strangers and offered them to their +gods, and if possible a Brahman was obtained as the most suitable +offering. These legends indicate the traditional hostility of the +Gonds to the Hindus, and especially to the Brahmans, by whom they were +at one time much oppressed and ousted from their lands. According to +tradition, a Gond Raja of Garha-Mandla, Madhkur Shah, had treacherously +put his elder brother to death. Divine vengeance overtook him and he +became afflicted with chronic pains in the head. No treatment was of +avail, and he was finally advised that the only means of appeasing +a justly incensed deity was to offer his own life. He determined +to be burnt inside the trunk of the sacred pipal tree, and a hollow +trunk sufficiently dry for the purpose having been found at Deogarh, +twelve miles from Mandla, he shut himself up in it and was burnt to +death. The story is interesting as showing how the neurotic or other +pains, which are the result of remorse for a crime, are ascribed to +the vengeance of a divine providence. + + + + +52. Cannibalism. + +Mr. Wilson quotes [78] an account, written by Lieutenant Prendergast +in 1820, in which he states that he had discovered a tribe of Gonds +who were cannibals, but ate only their own relations. The account +was as follows: "In May 1820 I visited the hills of Amarkantak, and +having heard that a particular tribe of Gonds who lived in the hills +were cannibals, I made the most particular inquiries assisted by my +clerk Mohan Singh, an intelligent and well-informed Kayasth. We learned +after much trouble that there was a tribe of Gonds who resided in the +hills of Amarkantak and to the south-east in the Gondwana country, +who held very little intercourse with the villagers and never went +among them except to barter or purchase provisions. This race live in +detached parties and seldom have more than eight or ten huts in one +place. They are cannibals in the real sense of the word, but never eat +the flesh of any person not belonging to their own family or tribe; +nor do they do this except on particular occasions. It is the custom of +this singular people to cut the throat of any person of their family +who is attacked by severe illness and who they think has no chance of +recovering, when they collect the whole of their relations and friends, +and feast upon the body. In like manner when a person arrives at a +great age and becomes feeble and weak, the Halalkhor operates upon him, +when the different members of the family assemble for the same purpose +as above stated. In other respects this is a simple race of people, +nor do they consider cutting the throats of their sick relations or +aged parents any sin; but on the contrary an act acceptable to Kali, +a blessing to their relatives, and a mercy to their whole race." + +It may be noted that the account is based on hearsay only, and such +stories are often circulated about savage races. But if correct, +it would indicate probably only a ritual form of cannibalism. The +idea of the Gonds in eating the bodies of their relatives would be to +assimilate the lives of these as it were, and cause them to be reborn +as children in their own families. Possibly they ate the bodies of +their parents, as many races ate the bodies of animal gods, in order +to obtain their divine virtues and qualities. No corroboration of this +custom is known in respect of the Gonds, but Colonel Dalton records +[79] a somewhat similar story of the small Birhor tribe who live in +the Chota Nagpur hills not far from Amarkantak, and it has been seen +that the Bhunjias of Bilaspur eat small portions of the bodies of +their dead relatives. [80] + + + + +53. Festivals. The new crops. + +The original Gond festivals were associated with the first eating of +the new crops and fruits. In Chait (March) a festival called Chaitrai +is observed in Bastar. A pig or fowl with some liquor is offered to +the village god, and the new urad and semi beans of the year's crop +are placed before him uncooked. The people dance and sing the whole +night and begin eating the new pulse and beans. In Bhadon (August) +is the Nawakhai or eating of the new rice. The old and new grain is +mixed and offered raw to the ancestors, a goat is sacrificed, and they +begin to eat the new crop of rice. Similarly when the mahua flowers, +from which country spirit is made, first appear, they proceed to the +forest and worship under a saj tree. + +Before sowing rice or millet they have a rite called Bijphutni or +breaking the seed. Some grain, fowls and a pig are collected from the +villagers by subscription. The grain is offered to the god and then +distributed to all the villagers, who sow it in their fields for luck. + + + + +54. The Holi festival. + +The Holi festival, which corresponds to the Carnival, being held in +spring at the end of the Hindu year, is observed by Gonds as well +as Hindus. In Bilaspur a Gond or Baiga, as representing the oldest +residents, is always employed to light the Holi fire. Sometimes it +is kindled in the ancient manner by the friction of two pieces of +wood. In Mandla, at the Holi, the Gonds fetch a green branch of the +semar or cotton tree and plant it in a little hole, in which they put +also a pice (farthing) and an egg. They place fuel round and burn up +the branch. Then next day they take out the egg and give it to a dog +to eat and say that this will make the dog as swift as fire. They +choose a dog whom they wish to train for hunting. They bring the +ploughshare from the house and heat it red-hot in the Holi fire and +take it back. They say that this wakes up the ploughshare, which +has fallen asleep from rusting in the house, and makes it sharp for +ploughing. Perhaps when rust appears on the metal they think this a +sign of its being asleep. They plough for the first time on a Monday +or Wednesday and drive three furrows when nobody is looking. + + + + +55. The Meghnath swinging rite. + +In the western Districts on one of the five days following the Holi +the swinging rite is performed. For this they bring a straight teak +or saj tree from the forest, as long as can be obtained, and cut from +a place where two trees are growing together. The Bhumka or village +priest is shown in a dream where to cut the tree. It is set up in +a hole seven feet deep, a quantity of salt being placed beneath +it. The hole is coloured with geru or red ochre, and offerings of +goats, sheep and chickens are made to it by people who have vowed +them in sickness. A cross-bar is fixed on to the top of the pole +in a socket and the Bhumka is tied to one end of the cross-bar. A +rope is attached to the other end and the people take hold of this +and drag the Bhumka round in the air five times. When this has been +done the village proprietor gives him a present of a cocoanut, and +head- and body-clothes. If the pole falls down it is considered that +some great misfortune, such as an epidemic, will ensue. The pole +and ritual are now called Meghnath. Meghnath is held to have been +the son of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, from whom the Gonds are +supposed by the Hindus to be descended, as they are called Rawanvansi, +or of the race of Rawan. After this they set up another pole, which +is known as Jheri, and make it slippery with oil, butter and other +things. A little bag containing Rs. 1-4 and also a seer (2 lbs.) of +ghi or butter are tied to the top, and the men try to climb the pole +and get these as a prize. The women assemble and beat the men with +sticks as they are climbing to prevent them from doing so. If no man +succeeds in climbing the pole and getting the reward, it is given to +the women. This seems to be a parody of the first or Meghnath rite, +and both probably have some connection with the growth of the crops. + + + + +56. The Karma and other rites. + +During Bhadon (August), in the rains, the Gonds bring a branch of the +kalmi or of the haldu tree from the forest and wrap it up in new cloth +and keep it in their houses. They have a feast and the musicians play, +and men and women dance round the branch singing songs, of which the +theme is often sexual. The dance is called Karma and is the principal +dance of the Gonds, and they repeat it at intervals all through the +cold weather, considering it as their great amusement. A further +notice of it is given in the section on social customs. The dance +is apparently named after the tree, though it is not known whether +the same tree is always selected. Many deciduous trees in India shed +their leaves in the hot weather and renew them in the rains, so that +this season is partly one of the renewal of vegetation as well as of +the growth of crops. + +In Kunwar (September) the Gond girls take an earthen pot, pierce +it with holes, and put a lamp inside and also the image of a dove, +and go round from house to house singing and dancing, led by a girl +carrying the pot on her head. They collect contributions and have a +feast. In Chhattisgarh among the Gonds and Rawats (Ahirs) there is +from time to time a kind of feminist movement, which is called the +Stiria-Raj or kingdom of women. The women pretend to be soldiers, +seize all the weapons, axes and spears that they can get hold of, and +march in a body from village to village. At each village they kill +a goat and send its head to another village, and then the women of +that village come and join them. During this time they leave their +hair unbound and think that they are establishing the kingdom of +women. After some months the movement subsides, and it is said to +occur at irregular intervals with a number of years between each. The +women are commonly considered to be out of their senses. + + + + +(g) Appearance and Character, and Social Rules and Customs + + +57. Physical type. + +Hislop describes the Gonds as follows: [81] "All are a little below +the average size of Europeans and in complexion darker than the +generality of Hindus. Their bodies are well proportioned, but their +features rather ugly. They have a roundish head, distended nostrils, +wide mouth, thickish lips, straight black hair and scanty beard and +moustache. It has been supposed that some of the aborigines of Central +India have woolly hair; but this is a mistake. Among the thousands +I have seen I have not found one with hair like a negro." Captain +Forsyth says: [82] "The Gond women differ among themselves more than +the men. They are somewhat lighter in colour and less fleshy than +Korku women. But the Gond women of different parts of the country +vary greatly in appearance, many of them in the open tracts being +great robust creatures, finer animals by far than the men; and here +Hindu blood may fairly be expected. In the interior again bevies +of Gond women may be seen who are more like monkeys than human +beings. The features of all are strongly marked and coarse. The +girls occasionally possess such comeliness as attaches to general +plumpness and a good-humoured expression of face; but when their short +youth is over all pass at once into a hideous age. Their hard lives, +sharing as they do all the labours of the men except that of hunting, +suffice to account for this." There is not the least doubt that the +Gonds of the more open and civilised country, comprised in British +Districts, have a large admixture of Hindu blood. They commonly work +as farmservants, women as well as men, and illicit connections with +their Hindu masters have been a natural result. This interbreeding, +as well as the better quality of food which those who have taken to +regular cultivation obtain, have perhaps conduced to improve the Gond +physical type. Gond men as tall as Hindus, and more strongly built +and with comparatively well-cut features, are now frequently seen, +though the broad flat nose is still characteristic of the tribe as +a whole. Most Gonds have very little hair on the face. + + + + +58. Character. + +Of the Maria Gonds, Colonel Glasfurd wrote [83] that "They are a +timid, quiet race, docile, and though addicted to drinking they +are not quarrelsome. Without exception they are the most cheerful, +light-hearted people I have met with, always laughing and joking +among themselves. Seldom does a Maria village resound with quarrels +or wrangling among either sex, and in this respect they present a +marked contrast to those in more civilised tracts. They, in common with +many other wild races, bear a singular character for truthfulness and +honesty, and when once they get over the feeling of shyness which is +natural to them, are exceedingly frank and communicative." Writing in +1825 Sleeman said: "Such is the simplicity and honesty of character +of the wildest of these Gonds that when they have agreed to a jama +[84] they will pay it, though they sell their children to do so, and +will also pay it at the precise time that they agreed to. They are +dishonest only in direct theft, and few of them will refuse to take +another man's property when a fair occasion offers, but they will +immediately acknowledge it." [85] The more civilised Gonds retain +these characteristics to a large extent, though contact with the +Hindus and the increased complexity of life have rendered them less +guileless. Murder is a comparatively frequent crime among Gonds, and +is usually due either to some quarrel about a woman or to a drunken +affray. The kidnapping of girls for marriage is also common, though +hardly reckoned as an offence by the Gonds themselves. Otherwise crime +is extremely rare in Gond villages as a rule. As farmservants the +Gonds are esteemed fairly honest and hard-working; but unless well +driven they are constitutionally averse to labour, and care nothing +about provision for the future. The proverb says, 'The Gond considers +himself a king as long as he has a pot of grain in the house,' meaning +that while he has food for a day or two he will not work for any +more. During the hot weather the Gonds go about in parties and pay +visits to their relatives, staying with them several days, and the +time is spent simply in eating, drinking when liquor is available, +and conversation. The visitors take presents of grain and pulse with +them and these go to augment the host's resources. The latter will +kill a chicken or, as a great treat, a young pig. Mr. Montgomerie +writes of the Gonds as follows: [86] "They are a pleasant people, and +leave kindly memories in those who have to do with them. Comparatively +truthful, always ready for a laugh, familiar with the paths and animals +and fruits of the forest, lazy cultivators on their own account +but good farmservants under supervision, the broad-nosed Gonds are +the fit inhabitants of the hilly and jungly tracts in which they are +found. With a marigold tucked into his hair above his left ear, with an +axe in his hand and a grin on his face, the Gond turns out cheerfully +to beat for game, and at the end of the day spends his beating pay +on liquor for himself or on sweetmeats for his children. He may, in +the previous year, have been subsisting largely on jungle fruits and +roots because his harvest failed, but he does not dream of investing +his modest beating pay in grain." + + + + +59. Shyness and ignorance. + +In the wilder tracts the Gonds were, until recently, extremely shy +of strangers, and would fly at their approach. Their tribute to the +Raja of Bastar, paid in kind, was collected once a year by an officer +who beat a tom-tom outside the village and forthwith hid himself, +whereupon the inhabitants brought out whatever they had to give and +deposited it on an appointed spot. Colonel Glasfurd notes that they had +great fear of a horse, and the sight of a man on horseback would put +a whole village to flight. [87] Even within the writer's experience, +in the wilder forest tracts of Chanda Gond women picking up mahua +would run and climb a tree at one's approach on a pony. As displaying +the ignorance of the Gonds, Mr. Cain relates [88] that about forty +years ago a Gond was sent with a basket of mangoes from Palvatsa to +Bhadrachalam, and was warned not to eat any of the fruit, as it would +be known if he did so from a note placed in the basket. On the way, +however, the Gond and his companion were overcome by the attraction +of the fruit, and decided that if they buried the note it would be +unable to see them eating. They accordingly did so and ate some of the +mangoes, and when taxed with their dishonesty at the journey's end, +could not understand how the note could have known of their eating +the mangoes when it had not seen them. + +The Gonds can now count up to twenty, and beyond that they use the +word kori or a score, in talking of cattle, grain or rupees, so that +this, perhaps, takes them up to twenty score. They say they learnt +to count up to twenty on their ten fingers and ten toes. + + + + +60. Villages and houses. + +When residing in the centre of a Hindu population the Gonds inhabit mud +houses, like the low-class Hindus. But in the jungles their huts are of +bamboo matting plastered with mud, with thatched roofs. The internal +arrangements are of the simplest kind, comprising two apartments +separated from each other by a row of tall baskets, in which they +store up their grain. Adjoining the house is a shed for cattle, +and round both a bamboo fence for protection from wild beasts. In +Bastar the walls of the hut are only four or five feet high, and the +door three feet. Here there are one or two sheds, in which all the +villagers store their grain in common, and no man steals another's +grain. In Gond villages the houses are seen perched about on little +bluffs or other high ground, overlooking the fields, one, two and +three together. The Gond does not like to live in a street. He likes +a large bari or fenced enclosure, about an acre in size, besides +his house. In this he will grow mustard for sale, or his own annual +supply of tobacco or vegetables. He arranges that the village cattle +shall come and stand in the bari on their way to and from pasture, +and that the cows shall be milked there for some time. His family +also perform natural functions in it, which the Hindus will not do +in their fields. Thus the bari gets well manured and will easily +give two crops in the year, and the Gond sets great store by this +field. When building a new house a man plants as the first post a +pole of the saj tree, and ties a bundle of thatching-grass round it, +and buries a pice (1/4d.) and a bhilawa nut beneath it. They feed two +or three friends and scatter a little of the food over the post. The +post is called Khirkhut Deo, and protects the house from harm. + +A brass or pewter dish and lota or drinking-vessel of the same +material, a few earthen cooking-pots, a hatchet and a clay chilam or +pipe-bowl comprise the furniture of a Gond. + + + + +61. Clothes and ornaments. + +In Sir R. Jenkins' time, a century ago, the Gonds were represented as +naked savages, living on roots and fruits, and hunting for strangers to +sacrifice. About fifty years later, when Mr. Hislop wrote, the Maria +women of the wilder tracts were said only to have a bundle of leafy +twigs fastened with a string round their waist to cover them before +and behind. Now men have a narrow strip of cloth round the waist and +women a broader one, but in the south of Bastar they still leave their +breasts uncovered. Here a woman covers her breasts for the first time +when she becomes pregnant, and if a young woman did it, she would be +thought to be big with child. In other localities men and women clothe +themselves more like Hindus, but the women leave the greater part of +the thighs bare, and men often have only one cloth round the loins +and another small rag on the head. They have bangles of glass, brass +and zinc, and large circlets of brass round the legs, though these are +now being discarded. In Bastar both men and women have ten to twenty +iron and brass hoops round their necks, and on to these rings of the +same metal are strung. Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath counted 181 rings +on one hoop round an old woman's neck. In the Maria country the boys +have small separate plots of land, which they cultivate themselves +and use the proceeds as their pocket-money, and this enables them to +indulge in a profusion of ornaments sometimes exceeding those worn +by the girls. In Mandla women wear a number of strings of yellow and +bluish-white beads. A married woman has both colours, and several +cowries tied to the end of the necklace. Widows and girls may only +wear the bluish-white beads without cowries, and a remarried widow +may not have any yellow beads, but she can have one cowrie on her +necklace. Yellow beads are thus confined to married women, yellow +being the common wedding-colour. A Gond woman is not allowed to wear +a choli or little jacket over the breasts. If she does she is put +out of caste. This rule may arise from opposition to the adoption of +Hindu customs and desire to retain a distinctive feature of dress, +or it may be thought that the adoption of the choli might make Gond +women weaker and unfitted for hard manual labour, like Hindu women. A +Gond woman must not keep her cloth tucked up behind into her waist +when she meets an elderly man of her own family, but must let it down +so as to cover the upper part of her legs. If she omits to do this, +on the occasion of the next wedding the Bhumka or caste priest will +send some men to catch her, and when she is brought the man to whom +she was disrespectful will put his right hand on the ground and she +must make obeisance to it seven times, then to his left hand, then to +a broom and pestle, and so on till she is tired out. When they have a +sprain or swelling of the arm they make a ring of tree-fibre and wear +this on the arm, and think that it will cure the sprain or swelling. + + + + +62. Ear-piercing. + +The ears of girls are pierced by a thorn, and the hole is enlarged by +putting in small pieces of wood or peacock's feathers. Gond women wear +in their ears the tarkhi or a little slab in shape like a palm-leaf, +covered with coloured glass and fixed on to a stalk of hemp-fibre +nearly an inch thick, which goes through the ear; or they wear the +silver shield-shaped ornament called dhara, which is described in the +article on Sunar. In Bastar the women have their ears pierced in a +dozen or more places, and have a small ring in each hole. If a woman +gets her ear torn through she is simply put out of caste and has to +give a feast for readmission, and is not kept out of caste till it +heals, like a Hindu woman. + + + + +63. Hair. + +Gond men now cut their hair. Before scissors were obtainable it is +said that they used to tie it up on their heads and chop off the ends +with an axe, or burn them off. But the wilder Gonds often wear their +hair long, and as it is seldom combed it gets tangled and matted. The +Pandas or priests do not cut their hair. Women wear braids of false +hair, of goats or other animals, twisted into their own to improve +their appearance. In Mandla a Gond girl should not have her hair +parted in the middle till she is married. When she is married this +is done for the first time by the Baiga, who subsequently tattoos on +her forehead the image of Chandi Mata. [89] + + + + +64. Bathing and washing clothes. + +Gonds, both men and women, do not bathe daily, but only wash their arms +and legs. They think a complete bath once a month is sufficient. If a +man gets ill he may think the god is angry with him for not bathing, +and when he recovers he goes and has a good bath, and sometimes gives a +feast. Hindus say that a Gond is only clean in the rains, when he gets +a compulsory bath every day. In Bastar they seldom wash their clothes, +as they think this impious, or else that the cloth would wear out too +quickly if it were often washed. Here they set great store by their +piece of cloth, and a woman will take it off before she cleans up her +house, and do her work naked. It is probable that these wild Gonds, +who could not weave, regarded the cloth as something miraculous and +sacred, and, as already seen, the god Palo is a piece of cloth. [90] + + + + +65. Tattooing. + +Both men and women were formerly much tattooed among the Gonds, +though the custom is now going out among men. Women are tattooed over +a large part of the body, but not on the hips or above them to the +waist. Sorcerers are tattooed with some image or symbol of their god +on their chest or right shoulder, and think that the god will thus +always remain with them and that any magic directed against them by an +enemy will fail. A woman should be tattooed at her father's house, if +possible before marriage, and if it is done after marriage her parents +should pay for it. The tattooing is done with indigo in black or blue, +and is sometimes a very painful process, the girl being held down +by her friends while it is carried out. Loud shrieks, Forsyth says, +would sometimes be heard by the traveller issuing from a village, +which proclaimed that some young Gondin was being operated upon with +the tattooing-needle. Patterns of animals and also common articles of +household use are tattooed in dots and lines. In Mandla the legs are +marked all the way up behind with sets of parallel lines, as shown +above. These are called ghats or steps, and sometimes interspersed +at intervals is another figure called sankal or chain. Perhaps their +idea is to make the legs strong for climbing. + + + + +66. Special system of tattooing. + +Tattooing seems to have been originally a magical means of protecting +the body against real and spiritual dangers, much in the same manner +as the wearing of ornaments. It is also supposed that people were +tattooed with images of their totem in order the better to identify +themselves with it. The following account is stated to have been taken +from the Baiga priest of a popular shrine of Devi in Mandla. His wife +was a tattooer of both Baigas and Gonds, and considered it the correct +method for the full tattooing of a woman, though very few women can +nowadays be found with it. The magical intent of tattooing is here +clearly brought out:-- + +On the sole of the right foot is the annexed device: + +It represents the earth, and will have the effect of preventing the +woman's foot from being bruised and cut when she walks about barefoot. + +On the sole of the left foot is this pattern: + +It is meant to be in the shape of a foot, and is called Padam Sen Deo +or the Foot-god. This deity is represented by stones marked with two +footprints under a tree outside the village. When they have a pain in +the foot they go to him, rub his two stones together and sprinkle the +dust from them on their feet as a means of cure. The device tattooed +on the foot no doubt performs a similar protective function. + +On the upper part of the foot five dots are made, one on each toe, and +a line is drawn round the foot from the big toe to the little toe. This +sign is said to represent Gajkaran Deo, the elephant god, who resides +in cemeteries. He is a strong god, and it is probably thought that +his symbol on the feet will enable them to bear weight. On the legs +behind they have the images of the Baiga priest and priestess. These +are also supposed to give strength for labour, and when they cannot +go into the forest from fever or weakness they say that Bura Deo, as +the deified priest is called, is angry with them. On the upper legs +in front they tattoo the image of a horse, and at the back a saddle +between the knee and the thigh. This is Koda Deo the horse-god, whose +image will make their thighs as strong as those of a horse. If they +have a pain or weakness in the thigh they go and worship Koda Deo, +offering him a piece of saddle-cloth. On the outer side of each upper +arm they tattoo the image of Hanuman, the deified monkey and the +god of strength, in the form of a man. Both men and women do this, +and men apply burning cowdung to the tattoo-mark in order to burn +it effectually into the arm. This god makes the arms strong to carry +weights. Down the back is tattooed an oblong figure, which is the house +of the god Bhimsen, with an opening at the lower end just above the +buttocks to represent the gate. Inside this on the back is the image +of Bhimsen's club, consisting of a pattern of dots more or less in +the shape of an Indian club. Bhimsen is the god of the cooking-place, +and the image of his club, in white clay stained green with the +leaves of the semar tree, is made on the wall of the kitchen. If +they have no food, or the food is bad, they say that Bhimsen is angry +with them. The pattern tattooed on the back appears therefore to be +meant to facilitate the digestion of food, which the Gonds apparently +once supposed to pass down the body along the back. On the breast in +front women tattoo the image of Bura Deo, as shown, the head on her +neck and the body finishing at her breast-bone. The marks round the +body represent stones, because the symbol of Bura Deo is sometimes +a basket plastered with mud and filled with stones. On each side of +the body women have the image of Jhulan Devi, the cradle goddess, as +shown by the small figures attached to Bura Deo. But a woman cannot +have the image of Jhulan Devi tattooed on her till she has borne a +child. The place where the image is tattooed is that where a child +rests against its mother's body when she carries it suspended in her +cloth, and it is supposed that the image of the goddess supports and +protects the child, while the mother's arms are left free for work. + +Round the neck they have Kanteshwar Mata, the goddess of the +necklace. She consists of three to six lines of dots round the neck +representing bead necklaces. + +On the face below the mouth there is sometimes the image of a cobra, +and it is supposed that this will protect them from the effects of +eating any poisonous thing. + +On the forehead women have the image of Chandi Mata. This consists of +a dot at the forehead at the parting of the hair, from which two lines +of dots run down to the ears on each side, and are continued along +the sides of the face to the neck. This image can only be tattooed +after the hair of a woman has been parted on her marriage, and they +say that Chandi Mata will preserve and guard the parting of the hair, +that is the life of the woman's husband, because the parting can +only be worn so long as her husband is alive. Chandi means the moon, +and it seems likely that the parting of the hair may be considered +to represent the bow of the moon. + +The elaborate system of tattooing here described is rarely found, +and it is perhaps comparatively recent, having been devised by the +Baiga and Pardhan priests as their intelligence developed and their +theogony became more complex. + + + + +67. Branding. + +Men are accustomed to brand themselves on the joints of the wrists, +elbows and knees with burning wood of the semar tree from the Holi fire +in order to render their joints supple for dancing. It would appear +that the idea of suppleness comes from the dancing of the flames or +the swift burning of the fire, while the wood is also of very light +weight. Men are also accustomed to burn two or three marks on each +wrist with a piece of hare's dung, perhaps to make the joints supple +like the legs of a hare. + + + + +68. Food. + +The Gonds have scarcely any restriction on diet. They will eat fowls, +beef, pork, crocodiles, certain kinds of snakes, lizards, tortoises, +rats, cats, red ants, jackals and in some places monkeys. Khatola +and Raj-Gonds usually abstain from beef and the flesh of the buffalo +and monkey. They consider field-mice and rats a great delicacy, and +will take much trouble in finding and digging out their holes. The +Maria Gonds are very fond of red ants, and in Bastar give them fried +or roasted to a woman during her confinement. The common food of the +labouring Gond is a gruel of rice or small millet boiled in water, +the quantity of water increasing in proportion to their poverty. This +is about the cheapest kind of food on which a man can live, and the +quantity of grain taken in the form of this gruel or pej which will +suffice for a Gond's subsistence is astonishingly small. They grow the +small grass-millets kodon and kutki for their subsistence, selling the +more valuable crops for rent and expenses. The flowers of the mahua +tree are also a staple article of diet, being largely eaten as well as +made into liquor, and the Gond knows of many other roots and fruits of +the forest. He likes to eat or drink his pej several times a day, and +in Seoni, it is said, will not go more than three hours without a meal. + +Gonds are rather strict in the matter of taking food from others, and +in some localities refuse to accept it even from Brahmans. Elsewhere +they will take it from most Hindu castes. In Hoshangabad the men may +take food from the higher Hindu castes, but not the women. This, they +say, is because the woman is a wooden vessel, and if a wooden vessel is +once put on the fire it is irretrievably burnt. A woman similarly is +the weaker vessel and will sustain injury from any contamination. The +Raj-Gond copies Hindu ways and outdoes the Hindu in the elaboration +of ceremonial purity, even having the fuel with which his Brahman +cook prepares his food sprinkled with water to purify it before it is +burnt. Mr. A. K. Smith states that a Gond will not eat an antelope if +a Chamar has touched it, even unskinned, and in some places they are +so strict that a wife may not eat her husband's leavings of food. The +Gonds will not eat the leavings of any Hindu caste, probably on account +of a traditional hostility arising out of their subjection by the +Hindus. Very few Hindu castes will take water or food from the Gonds, +but some who employ them as farmservants do this for convenience. The +Gonds are not regarded as impure, even though from a Hindu point of +view some of their habits are more objectionable than those of the +impure castes. This is because the Gonds have never been completely +reduced to subjection, nor converted into the village drudges, who +are consigned to the most degraded occupations. Large numbers of them +hold land as tenants and estates as zamindars; and the greater part +of the Province was once governed by Gond kings. The Hindus say that +they could not consider a tribe as impure to which their kings once +belonged. Brahmans will take water from Raj-Gonds and Khatola Gonds +in many localities. This is when it is freshly brought from the well +and not after it has been put in their houses. + + + + +69. Liquor. + +Excessive drinking is the common vice of the Gonds and the principal +cause which militates against their successfully competing with the +Hindus. They drink the country spirit distilled from the flowers of the +mahua tree, and in the south of the Province toddy or the fermented +juice of the date-palm. As already seen, in Bastar their idea of +hell is a place without liquor. The loss of the greater part of the +estates formerly held by Gond proprietors has been due to this vice, +which many Hindu liquor-sellers have naturally fostered to their own +advantage. No festival or wedding passes without a drunken bout, +and in Chanda at the season for tapping the date-palm trees the +whole population of a village may be seen lying about in the open +dead drunk. They impute a certain sanctity to the mahua tree, and +in some places walk round a post of it at their weddings. Liquor is +indispensable at all ceremonial feasts, and a purifying quality is +attributed to it, so that it is drunk at the cemetery or bathing-ghat +after a funeral. The family arranges for liquor, but mourners +attending from other families also bring a bottle each with them, +if possible. Practically all the events of a Gond's life, the birth +of a child, betrothals and weddings, recovery from sickness, the +arrival of a guest, bringing home the harvest, borrowing money or +hiring bullocks, and making contracts for cultivation, are celebrated +by drinking. And when a Gond has once begun to drink, if he has the +money he usually goes on till he is drunk, and this is why the habit is +such a curse to him. He is of a social disposition and does not like +to drink alone. If he has drunk something, and has no more money, and +the contractor refuses to let him have any more on credit as the law +prescribes, the Gond will sometimes curse him and swear never to drink +in his shop again. Nevertheless, within a few days he will be back, +and when chaffed about it will answer simply that he could not resist +the longing. In spite of all the harm it does him, it must be admitted +that it is the drink which gives most of the colour and brightness to +a Gond's life, and without this it would usually be tame to a degree. + +When a Gond drinks water from a stream or tank, he bends down and +puts his mouth to the surface and does not make a cup with his hands +like a Hindu. + + + + +70. Admission of outsiders and sexual morality. + +Outsiders are admitted into the tribe in some localities in Bastar, +and also the offspring of a Gond man or woman with a person of another +caste, excepting the lowest. But some people will not admit the +children of a Gond woman by a man of another caste. Not much regard +is paid to the chastity of girls before marriage, though in the more +civilised tracts the stricter Hindu views on the subject are beginning +to prevail. Here it is said that if a girl is detected in a sexual +intrigue before marriage she may be taken into caste, but may not +participate in the worship of Bura Deo nor of the household god. But +this is probably rather a counsel of perfection than a rule actually +enforced. If a daughter is taken in the sexual act, they think some +misfortune will happen to them, as the death of a cow or the failure +of crops. Similarly the Maria Gonds think that if tigers kill their +cattle it is a punishment for the adultery of their wives, and hence +if a man loses a head or two he looks very closely after his wife, +and detection is often followed by murder. Here probably adultery was +originally considered an offence as being a sin against the tribe, +because it contaminated the tribal blood, and out of this attitude +marital jealousy has subsequently developed. Speaking generally, the +enforcement of rules of sexual morality appears to be comparatively +recent, and there is no doubt that the Baigas and other tribes who have +lived in contact with the Gonds, as well as the Ahirs and other low +castes, have a large admixture of Gond blood. In Bastar a Gond woman +formerly had no feelings of modesty as regards her breasts, but this +is now being acquired. Laying the hand on a married woman's shoulder +gives great offence. Mr. Low writes: [91] "It is difficult to say what +is not a legal marriage from a Gond point of view; but in spite of +this laxity abductions are frequent, and Colonel Bloomfield mentions +one particularly noteworthy case where the abductor, an unusually ugly +Gond with a hare-lip, was stated by the complainant to have taken off +first the latter's aunt, then his sister and finally his only wife." + + + + +71. Common sleeping-houses. + +Many Gond villages in Chhattisgarh and the Feudatory States have what +is known as a gotalghar. This is a large house near the village +where unmarried youths and maidens collect and dance and sing +together at night. Some villages have two, one for the boys and one +for the girls. In Bastar the boys have a regular organisation, their +captain being called Sirdar, and the master of the ceremonies Kotwar, +while they have other officials bearing the designation of the State +officers. After supper the unmarried boys go first to the gotalghar +and are followed by the girls. The Kotwar receives the latter and +directs them to bow to the Sirdar, which they do. Each girl then +takes a boy and combs his hair and massages his hands and arms to +refresh him, and afterwards they sing and dance together until they +are tired and then go to bed. The girls can retire to their own house +if they wish, but frequently they sleep in the boys' house. Thus +numerous couples become intimate, and if on discovery the parents +object to their marriage, they run away to the jungle, and it has to +be recognised. In some villages, however, girls are not permitted to +go to the gotalghar. In one part of Bastar they have a curious rule +that all males, even the married, must sleep in the common house for +the eight months of the open season, while their wives sleep in their +own houses. A Maria Gond thinks it impious to have sexual intercourse +with his wife in his house, as it would be an insult to the goddess +of wealth who lives in the house, and the effect would be to drive +her away. Their solicitude for this goddess is the more noticeable, +as the Maria Gond's house and furniture probably constitute one of +the least valuable human habitations on the face of the globe. + + + + +72. Methods of greeting and observances between relatives. + +When two Gond friends or relatives meet, they clasp each other in +their arms and lean against each shoulder in turn. A man will then +touch the knees of an elder male relative with his fingers, carrying +them afterwards to his own forehead. This is equivalent to falling +at the other's feet, and is a token of respect shown to all elder +male relatives and also to a son-in-law, sister's husband, and a +samhdi, that is the father of a son- or daughter-in-law. Their term of +salutation is Johar, and they say this to each other. Another method +of greeting is that each should put his fingers under the other's chin +and then kiss them himself. Women also do this when they meet. Or +a younger woman meeting an elder will touch her feet, and the elder +will then kiss her on the forehead and on each cheek. If they have +not met for some time they will weep. It is said that Baigas will +kiss each other on the cheek when meeting, both men and women. A Gond +will kiss and caress his wife after marriage, but as soon as she has +a child he drops the habit and never does it again. When husband and +wife meet after an absence the wife touches her husband's feet with +her hand and carries it to her forehead, but the husband makes no +demonstration. The Gonds kiss their children. Among the Maria Gonds +the wife is said not to sleep on a cot in her husband's house, which +would be thought disrespectful to him, but on the ground. Nor will +a woman even sit on a cot in her own house, as if any male relative +happened to be in the house it would be disrespectful to him. A woman +will not say the name of her husband, his elder or younger brother, +or his elder brother's sons. A man will not mention his wife's name +nor that of her elder sister. + + + + +73. The caste panchayat and social offences. + +The tribe have panchayats or committees for the settlement of tribal +disputes and offences. A member of the panchayat is selected by general +consent, and holds office during good behaviour. The office is not +hereditary, and generally there does not seem to be a recognised +head of the panchayat. In Mandla there is a separate panchayat for +each village, and every Gond male adult belongs to it, and all have +to be summoned to a meeting. When they assemble five leading elderly +men decide the matter in dispute, as representing the assembly. Caste +offences are of the usual Hindu type with some variations. Adultery, +taking another man's wife or daughter, getting vermin in a wound, +being sent to jail and eating the jail food, or even having handcuffs +put on, a woman getting her ear torn, and eating or even smoking with +a man of very low caste, are the ordinary offences. Others are being +beaten by a shoe, dealing in the hides of cattle or keeping donkeys, +removing the corpse of a dead horse or donkey, being touched by a +sweeper, cooking in the earthen pots of any impure caste, a woman +entering the kitchen during her monthly impurity, and taking to wife +the widow of a younger brother, but not of course of an elder brother. + +In the case of septs which revere a totem animal or plant, any act +committed in connection with that animal or plant by a member of +the sept is an offence within the cognisance of the panchayat. Thus +in Mandla the Kumhra sept revere the goat and the Markam sept the +crocodile and crab. If a member of one of these septs touches, keeps, +kills or eats the animal which his sept reveres, he is put out of caste +and comes before the panchayat. In practice the offences with which +the panchayat most frequently deals are the taking of another man's +wife or the kidnapping of a daughter for marriage, this last usually +occurring between relatives. Both these offences can also be brought +before the regular courts, but it is usually only when the aggrieved +person cannot get satisfaction from the panchayat, or when the offender +refuses to abide by its decision, that the case goes to court. If +a Gond loses his wife he will in the ordinary course compromise the +matter if the man who takes her will repay his wedding expenses; this +is a very serious business for him, as his wedding is the principal +expense of a man's life, and it is probable that he may not be able to +afford to buy another girl and pay for her wedding. If he cannot get +his wedding expenses back through the panchayat he files a complaint +of adultery under the Penal Code, in the hope of being repaid through +a fine inflicted on the offender, and it is perfectly right and just +that this should be done. When a girl is kidnapped for marriage, her +family can usually be induced to recognise the affair if they receive +the price they could have got for the girl in an ordinary marriage, +and perhaps a little more, as a solace to their outraged feelings. + +The panchayat takes no cognisance of theft, cheating, forgery, perjury, +causing hurt and other forms of crime. These are not considered to be +offences against the caste, and no penalty is inflicted for them. Only +if a man is arrested and handcuffed, or if he is sent to jail for +any such crime, he is put out of caste for eating the jail food and +subjected in this latter case to a somewhat severe penalty. It is +not clear whether a Gond is put out of caste for murder, though Hindu +panchayats take cognisance of this offence. + + + + +74. Caste penalty feasts. + +The punishments inflicted by the panchayat consist of feasts, and in +the case of minor offences of a fine. This last, subject perhaps to +some commission to the members for their services, is always spent on +liquor, the drinking of which by the offender with the caste-fellows +will purify him. The Gonds consider country liquor as equivalent to +the Hindu Amrita or nectar. + +The penalty for a serious offence involves three feasts. The first, +known as the meal of impurity, consists of sweet wheaten cakes which +are eaten by the elders on the bank of a stream or well. The second or +main feast is given in the offender's courtyard to all the castemen of +the village and sometimes of other villages. Rice, pulse, and meat, +either of a slaughtered pig or goat, are provided at this. The third +feast is known as 'The taking back into caste' and is held in the +offender's house and may be cooked by him. Wheat, rice and pulses +are served, but not meat or vegetables. When the panchayat have +eaten this food in the offender's house he is again a proper member +of the caste. Liquor is essential at each feast. The nature of the +penalty feasts is thus very clear. They have the effect of a gradual +purification of the offender. In the first meal he can take no part, +nor is it served in his house, but in some neutral place. For the +second meal the castemen go so far as to sit in his compound, but +apparently he does not cook the food nor partake of it. At the third +meal they eat with him in his house and he is fully purified. These +three meals are prescribed only for serious offences, and for ordinary +ones only two meals, the offender partaking of the second. The three +meals are usually exacted from a woman taken in adultery with an +outsider. In this case the woman's head is shaved at the first meal +by the Sharmia, that is her son-in-law, and the children put her to +shame by throwing lumps of cowdung at her. She runs away and bathes +in a stream. At the second meal, taken in her courtyard, the Sharmia +sprinkles some blood on the ground and on the lintel of the door as +an offering to the gods and in order that the house may be pure for +the future. If a man is poor and cannot afford the expense of the +penalty feasts imposed on him, the panchayat will agree that only a +few persons will attend instead of the whole community. The procedure +above described is probably borrowed to a large extent from Hinduism, +but the working of a panchayat can be observed better among the Gonds +and lower castes than among high-caste Hindus, who are tending to +let it lapse into abeyance. + + + + +75. Special purification ceremony. + +The following detailed process of purification had to be undergone +by a well-to-do Gond widow in Mandla who had been detected with a +man of the Panka caste, lying drunk and naked in a liquor-shop. The +Gonds here consider the Pankas socially beneath themselves. The ritual +clearly belongs to Hinduism, as shown by the purifying virtue attached +to contact with cows and bullocks and cowdung, and was directed by +the Panda or priest of Devi's shrine, who, however, would probably +be a Gond. First, the offending woman was taken right out of the +village across a stream; here her head was shaved with the urine +of an all-black bullock and her body washed with his dung, and she +then bathed in the stream, and a feast was given on its bank to the +caste. She slept here, and next day was yoked to the same bullock +and taken thus to the Kharkha or standing-place for the village +cattle. She was rolled over the surface of the Kharkha about four +times, again rubbed with cowdung, another feast was given, and she +slept the night on the spot, without being washed. Next day, covered +with the dust and cowdung of the Kharkha, she crouched underneath +the black bullock's belly and in this manner proceeded to the gate of +her own yard. Here a bottle of liquor and fifteen chickens were waved +round her and afterwards offered at Devi's shrine, where they became +the property of the Panda who was conducting the ceremony. Another +feast was given in her yard and the woman slept there. Next day the +woman, after bathing, was placed standing with one foot outside her +threshold and the other inside; a feast was given, called the feast +of the threshold, and she again slept in her yard. On the following +day came the final feast of purification in the house. The woman was +bathed eleven times, and a hen, a chicken and five eggs were offered +by the Panda to each of her household gods. Then she drank a little +liquor from a cup of which the Panda had drunk, and ate some of the +leavings of food of which he had eaten. The black bullock and a piece +of cloth sufficient to cover it were presented to the Panda for his +services. Then the woman took a dish of rice and pulse and placed a +little in the leaf-cup of each of the caste-fellows present, and they +all ate it and she was readmitted to caste. Twelve cow-buffaloes were +sold to pay for the ceremony, which perhaps cost Rs. 600 or more. + + + + +76. Dancing. + +Dancing and singing to the dance constitute the social amusement and +recreation of the Gonds, and they are passionately fond of it. The +principal dance is the Karma, danced in celebration of the bringing +of the leafy branch of a tree from the forest in the rains. They +continue to dance it as a recreation during the nights of the cold +and hot weather, whenever they have leisure and a supply of liquor, +which is almost indispensable, is forthcoming. The Marias dance, men +and women together, in a great circle, each man holding the girl next +him on one side round the neck and on the other round the waist. They +keep perfect time, moving each foot alternately in unison throughout +the line, and moving round in a slow circle. Only unmarried girls may +join in a Maria dance, and once a woman is married she can never dance +again. This is no doubt a salutary provision for household happiness, +as sometimes couples, excited by the dance and wine, run away from it +into the jungle and stay there for a day or two till their relatives +bring them home and consider them as married. At the Maria dances +the men wear the skins of tigers, panthers, deer and other animals, +and sometimes head-dresses of peacock's feathers. They may also have +a girdle of cowries round the waist, and a bell tied to their back to +ring as they move. The musicians sit in the centre and play various +kinds of drums and tom-toms. At a large Maria dance there may be +as many as thirty musicians, and the provision of rice or kodon and +liquor may cost as much as Rs. 50. In other localities the dance is +less picturesque. Men and women form two long lines opposite each +other, with the musicians in the centre, and advance and retreat +alternately, bringing one foot forward and the other up behind it, +with a similar movement in retiring. Married women may dance, and +the men do not hold the women at any time. At intervals they break +off and liquor is distributed in small leaf-cups, or if these are not +available, it is poured into the hands of the dancers held together +like a cup. In either case a considerable proportion of the liquor +is usually spilt on to the ground. + + + + +77. Songs. + +All the time they are dancing they also sing in unison, the +men sometimes singing one line and the women the next, or both +together. The songs are with few exceptions of an erotic character, +and a few specimens are subjoined. + + + a. Be not proud of your body, your body must go away above + (to death). + Your mother, brother and all your kinsmen, you must leave them + and go. + You may have lakhs of treasure in your house, but you must leave + it all and go. + + b. The musicians play and the feet beat on the earth. + A pice (1/4d.) for a divorced woman, two pice for a kept woman, + for a virgin many sounding rupees. + The musicians play and the earth sounds with the trampling of feet. + + c. Raja Darwa is dead, he died in his youth. + Who is he that has taken the small gun, who has taken the big bow? + Who is aiming through the harra and bahera trees, who is aiming + on the plain? + Who has killed the quail and partridge, who has killed the peacock? + Raja Darwa has died in the prime of his youth. + The big brother says, 'I killed him, I killed him'; the little + brother shot the arrow. + Raja Darwa has died in the bloom of his youth. + + d. Rawan [92] is coming disguised as a Bairagi; by what road will + Rawan come? + The houses and castles fell before him, the ruler of Bhanwargarh + rose up in fear. + He set the match to his powder, he stooped and crept along the + ground and fired. + + e. Little pleasure is got from a kept woman; she gives her lord + pej (gruel) of kutki to drink. + She gives it him in a leaf-cup of laburnum; [93] the cup is too + small for him to drink. + She put two gourds full of water in it, and the gruel is so thin + that it gives him no sustenance. + + f. Man speaks: + + The wife is asleep and her Raja (husband) is asleep in her lap. + She has taken a piece of bread in her lap and water in her vessel. + See from her eyes will she come or not? + + Woman: + + I have left my cow in her shed, my buffalo in her stall. + I have left my baby at the breast and am come alone to follow you. + + g. The father said to his son, 'Do not go out to service with + any master, neither go to any strange woman. + I will sell my sickle and axe, and make you two marriages.' + He made a marriage feast for his son, and in one plate he put + rice, and over it meat, and poured soup over it till it flowed + out of the plate. + Then he said to the men and women, young and old, 'Come and eat + your fill.' + + + + +78. Language. + +In 1911 Gondi was spoken by 1,500,000 persons, or more than half +the total number of Gonds in India. The other Gonds of the Central +Provinces speak a broken Hindi. Gondi is a Dravidian language, having +a common ancestor with Tamil and Canarese, but little immediate +connection with its neighbour Telugu; the specimens given by Sir +G. Grierson show that a large number of Hindi words have been adopted +into the vocabulary of Gondi, and this tendency is no doubt on the +increase. There are probably few Gonds outside the Feudatory States, +and possibly a few of the wildest tracts in British Districts, who +could not understand Hindi to some extent. And with the extension of +primary education in British Districts Gondi is likely to decline still +more rapidly. Gondi has no literature and no character of its own; +but the Gospels and the Book of Genesis have been translated into it +and several grammatical sketches and vocabularies compiled. In Saugor +the Hindus speak of Gondi as Farsi or Persian, apparently applying +this latter name to any foreign language. + + + + +(h) Occupation + + +79. Cultivation. + +The Gonds are mainly engaged in agriculture, and the great bulk of +them are farmservants and labourers. In the hilly tracts, however, +there is a substantial Gond tenantry, and a small number of proprietors +remain, though the majority have been ousted by Hindu moneylenders and +liquor-sellers. In the eastern Districts many important zamindari +estates are owned by Gond proprietors. The ancestors of these +families held the wild hilly country on the borders of the plains in +feudal tenure from the central rulers, and were responsible for the +restraint of the savage hillmen under their jurisdiction, and the +protection of the rich and settled lowlands from predatory inroads +from without. Their descendants are ordinary landed proprietors, and +would by this time have lost their estates but for the protection +of the law declaring them impartible and inalienable. A few of +the Feudatory Chiefs are also Gonds. Gond proprietors are generally +easy-going and kind-hearted to their tenants, but lacking in business +acumen and energy, and often addicted to drink and women. The tenants +are as a class shiftless and improvident and heavily indebted. But +they show signs of improvement, especially in the ryotwari villages +under direct Government management, and it may be hoped that primary +education and more temperate habits will gradually render them equal +to the Hindu cultivators. + + + + +80. Patch cultivation. + +In the Feudatory States and some of the zamindaris the Gonds retain +the dahia or bewar method of shifting cultivation, which has been +prohibited everywhere else on account of its destructive effects on +the forests. The Maria Gonds of Bastar cut down a patch of jungle on +a hillside about February, and on its drying up burn all the wood in +April or May. Tying strips of the bark of the saj tree to their feet +to prevent them from being burnt, they walk over the smouldering area, +and with long bamboo sticks move any unburnt logs into a burning patch, +so that they may all be consumed. When the first showers of rain fall +they scatter seed of the small millets into the soft covering of wood +ashes, and the fertility of the soil is such that without further +trouble they get a return of a hundred-fold or more. The same patch +can be sown for three years in succession without ploughing, but it +then gives out, and the Gonds move themselves and their habitations +to a fresh one. When the jungle has been allowed to grow on the old +patch for ten or twelve years, there is sufficient material for a fresh +supply of wood-ash manure, and they burn it over again. Teak yields a +particularly fertilising ash, and when standing the tree is hurtful to +crops grown near it, as its large, broad leaves cause a heavy drip and +wash out the grain. Hence the Gonds were particularly hostile to this +tree, and it is probably to their destructive efforts that the poor +growth of teak over large areas of the Provincial forests is due. [94] +The Maria Gonds do not use the plough, and their only agricultural +implement is a kind of hoe or spade. Elsewhere the Gonds are gradually +adopting the Hindu methods of cultivation, but their land is generally +in hilly and jungly tracts and of poor quality. They occupy large +areas of the wretched barra or gravel soil which has disintegrated +from the rock of the hillsides, and covers it in a thin sheet mixed +with quantities of large stones. The Gonds, however, like this land, +as it is so shallow as to entail very little trouble in ploughing, and +it is suitable for their favourite crops of the small millets, kodon +and kutki, and the poorer oilseeds. After three years of cropping it +must be given an equal or longer period of fallow before it will again +yield any return. The Gonds say it is narang or exhausted. In the new +ryotwari villages formed within the last twenty years the Gonds form +a large section, and in Mandla the great majority, of the tenantry, +and have good black-soil fields which grow wheat and other valuable +crops. Here, perhaps, their condition is happier than anywhere else, +as they are secured in the possession of their lands subject to the +payment of revenue, liberally assisted with Government loans at low +interest, and protected as far as possible from the petty extortion +and peculation of Hindu subordinate officials and moneylenders. The +opening of a substantial number of primary schools to serve these +villages will, it may be hoped, have the effect of making the Gond a +more intelligent and provident cultivator, and counteract the excessive +addiction to liquor which is the great drawback to his prosperity. The +fondness of the Gond for his bari or garden plot adjoining his hut +has been described in the section on villages and houses. + + + + +81. Hunting: traps for animals. + +The primary occupation of the Gonds in former times was hunting and +fishing, but their opportunities in this respect have been greatly +circumscribed by the conservation of the game in Government forests, +which was essential if it was not to become extinct, when the native +shikaris had obtained firearms. Their weapons were until recently +bows and arrows, but now Gond hunters usually have an old matchlock +gun. They have several ingenious devices for trapping animals. It is +essential for them to make a stockade round their patch cultivation +fields in the forests, or the grain would be devoured by pig and +deer. At one point in this they leave a narrow opening, and in front +of it dig a deep pit and cover it with brushwood and grass; then at the +main entrance they spread some sand. Coming in the middle of the night +they see from the footprints in the sand what animals have entered +the enclosure; if these are worth catching they close the main gate, +and make as much noise as they can. The frightened animals dash round +the enclosure and, seeing the opening, run through it and fall into the +pit, where they are easily despatched with clubs and axes. They also +set traps across the forest paths frequented by animals. The method +is to take a strong raw-hide rope and secure one end of it to a stout +sapling, which is bent down like a spring. The other end is made into +a noose and laid open on the ground, often over a small hole. It is +secured by a stone or log of wood, and this is so arranged by means +of some kind of fall-trap that on pressure in the centre of the hole +it is displaced and releases the noose. The animal comes and puts his +foot in the hole, thus removing the trap which secured the noose. This +flies up and takes the animal's foot with it, being drawn tight in +mid-air by the rebound of the sapling. The animal is thus suspended +with one foot in the air, which it cannot free, and the Gonds come and +kill it. Tigers are sometimes caught in this manner. A third very cruel +kind of trap is made by putting up a hedge of thorns and grass across a +forest-path, on the farther side of which they plant a few strong and +sharply-pointed bamboo stakes. A deer coming up will jump the hedge, +and on landing will be impaled on one of the stakes. The wound is +very severe and often festers immediately, so that the victim dies +in a few hours. Or they suspend a heavy beam over a forest path held +erect by a loose prop which stands on the path. The deer comes along +and knocks aside the prop, and the beam falls on him and pins him +down. Mr. Montgomerie writes as follows on Gond methods of hunting: +[95] "The use of the bow and arrow is being forgotten owing to the +restrictions placed by Government on hunting. The Gonds can still throw +an axe fairly straight, but a running hare is a difficult mark and has +a good chance of escaping. The hare, however, falls a victim to the +fascination of fire. The Gond takes an earthen pot, knocks a large hole +in the side of it, and slings it on a pole with a counterbalancing +stone at the other end. Then at night he slings the pole over one +shoulder, with the earthen pot in front containing fire, and sallies +out hare-hunting. He is accompanied by a man who bears a bamboo. The +hare, attracted and fascinated by the light, comes close and watches +it stupidly till the bamboo descends on the animal's head, and the +Gonds have hare for supper." Sometimes a bell is rung as well, and +this is said to attract the animals. They also catch fish by holding +a lamp over the water on a dark night and spearing them with a trident. + + + + + + +Gond-Gowari + + +Gond-Gowari. [96]--A small hybrid caste formed from alliances between +Gonds and Gowaris or herdsmen of the Maratha country. Though they must +now be considered as a distinct caste, being impure and thus ranking +lower than either the Gonds or Gowaris, they are still often identified +with either of them. In 1901 only 3000 were returned, principally +from the Nagpur and Chanda Districts. In 1911 they were amalgamated +with the Gowaris, and this view may be accepted as their origin is +the same. The Gowaris say that the Gond-Gowaris are the descendants +of one of two brothers who accidentally ate the flesh of a cow. Both +the Gonds and Gowaris frequent the jungles for long periods together, +and it is natural that intimacies should spring up between the youth +of either sex. And the progeny of these irregular connections has +formed a separate caste, looked down upon by both its progenitors. The +Gond-Gowaris have no subcastes, and for purposes of marriages are +divided into exogamous septs, all bearing Gond names. Like the Gonds, +the caste is also split into two divisions, worshipping six and +seven gods respectively, and members of septs worshipping the same +number of gods must not marry with each other. The deities of the +six and seven god-worshippers are identical, except that the latter +have one extra called Durga or Devi, who is represented by a copper +coin of the old Nagpur dynasty. Of the other deities Bura Deo is a +piece of iron, Khoda and Khodavan are both pieces of the kadamb tree +(Nauclea parvifolia), Supari is the areca-nut, and Kaipen consists of +two iron rings and counts as two deities. It seems probable, therefore, +from the double set of identical deities that two of the original ones +have been forgotten. The gods are kept on a small piece of red cloth +in a closed bamboo basket, which must not be opened except on days of +worship, lest they should work some mischief; on these special days +they are rendered harmless for the time being by the homage which is +rendered to them. Marriage is adult, and a bride-price of nine rupees +and some grain is commonly paid by the boy's family. The ceremony +is a mixture of Gond and Maratha forms; the couple walk seven times +round a bohla or mound of earth and the guests clap their hands. At a +widow-marriage they walk three and a half times round a burning lamp, +as this is considered to be only a kind of half-marriage. The morality +of the caste is very loose, and a wife will commonly be pardoned any +transgression except an intrigue with a man of very low caste. Women +of other castes, such as Kunbis or Barhais, may be admitted to the +community on forming a connection with a Gond-Gowari. The caste have +no prescribed observance of mourning for the dead. The Gond-Gowaris +are cultivators and labourers, and dress like the Kunbis. They are +considered to be impure and must live outside the village, while other +castes refuse to touch them. The bodies of the women are disfigured +by excessive tattooing, the legs being covered with a pattern of dots +and lines reaching up to the thighs. In this matter they simply follow +their Gond ancestors, but they say that a woman who is not tattooed +is impure and cannot worship the deities. + + + + + + +Gondhali + + +Gondhali. [97]--A caste or order of wandering beggars and musicians +found in the Maratha Districts of the Central Provinces and in +Berar. The name is derived from the Marathi word gondharne, to make a +noise. In 1911 the Gondhalis numbered about 3000 persons in Berar and +500 in the Central Provinces, and they are also found in Bombay. The +origin of the caste is obscure, but it appears to have been recruited +in recent times from the offspring of Waghyas and Murlis or male and +female children devoted to temples by their parents in fulfilment of +a vow. Mr. Kitts states in the Berar Census Report [98] of 1881 that +the Gondhalis are there attached either to the temple of Tukai at +Tuljapur or the temple of Renuka at Mahur, and in consequence form +two subcastes, the Kadamrai and Renurai, who do not intermarry. In +the Central Provinces, however, besides these two there are a number +of other subcastes, most of which bear the names of distinct castes, +and obviously consist of members of that caste who became Gondhalis, +or of their descendants. Thus among the names of subcastes reported +are the Brahman, Maratha, Mane Kunbi, Khaire Kunbi, Teli, Mahar, +Mang and Vidur Gondhalis, as well as others like the Deshkars, +or those coming from the Deccan, the Gangapare, [99] or those from +beyond the Ganges, and the Hijade or eunuchs. It is clear, therefore, +that members of these castes becoming Gondhalis attempt to arrange +their marriages with other converts from their own caste and to +retain their relative social position. There is little doubt that all +Gondhalis are theoretically meant to be equal, a principle which at +their first foundation applies to nearly all sects and orders, but +here as elsewhere the social feeling of caste has been too strong +to permit of its retention. It may be doubted, however, whether in +view of the small total numbers of the caste all these groups can +be strictly endogamous. The Kunbi Gondhalis can take food from the +ordinary Kunbis, but they rank below them, as being mendicants. The +caste has also a number of exogamous groups or gotras, the names of +which may be classified as titular or territorial. Instances of the +former kind are Dokiphode or one who broke his head while begging, +Sukt (thin, emaciated), Muke (dumb), Jabal (one with long hair like +a Jogi), and Panchange (one who has five limbs). Girls are married +as a rule before adolescence, and the ceremony resembles that of the +Kunbis, but a special prayer is offered to the deity Renuka, and the +boy is invested with a necklace of cowries by five married men of the +caste. Till this has been done he is not considered to be a proper +Gondhali. Celibacy is not a tenet of the order. The remarriage of +widows is allowed, and the ceremony consists in the husband placing +a string of small black glass beads round the woman's neck, while +she holds out a pair of new shoes for him to put his feet into. The +second wife often wears a small silver or golden image of the first +wife round her neck, and worships it before she eats by touching it +with food; she also asks its permission before going to sleep with +her husband. The goddess Bhawani or Devi is especially revered by +the caste, and they fast in her honour on Tuesdays and Fridays. They +worship their musical instruments at Dasahra with an offering of a +goat, and afterwards sing and dance for the whole night, this being +their principal festival. They also observe the nine days' fasts +in honour of Devi in Chait (March) and Kunwar (September) and sow +the Jawaras or pots of wheat. The Gondhalis are mendicant musicians, +and are engaged on the occasion of marriages among the higher castes +to perform their gondhal or dance accompanied by music. Four men are +needed for it, one being the dancer who is dressed in a long white robe +with a necklace of cowries and bells on his ankles, while the other +three stand behind him, two of them carrying drums and the third a +sacred torch called dioti. The torch-bearer serves as a butt for the +witticisms of the dancer. Their instruments are the chonka, an open +drum carrying an iron string which is beaten with a small wooden pin, +and two sambals or double drums of iron, wood or earth, one of which +emits a dull and the other a sharp sound. The dance is performed in +honour of the goddess Bhawani. They set up a wooden stool on the stage +arranged for the performance, covered with a cloth on which wheat is +spread, and over this is placed a brass vessel containing water and +a cocoanut. This represents the goddess. After the performance the +Gondhalis take away and eat the cocoanut and wheat; their regular fee +for an engagement is Rs. 1-4, and the guests give them presents of a +few pice (farthings). They are engaged for important ceremonies such +as marriages, the Barsa or name-giving of a boy, and the Shantik or +maturity of a girl, and also merely for entertainment; but in this +case the stool and cocoanut representing the goddess are not set +up. The following is a specimen of a Gondhali religious song: + + + Where I come from and who am I, + This mystery none has solved; + Father, mother, sister and brother, these are all illusions. + I call them mine and am lost in my selfish concerns. + Worldliness is the beginning of hell, man has wrapped himself in + it without reason. + Remember your guru, go to him and touch his feet. + Put on the shield of mercy and compassion and take the sword + of knowledge. + God is in every human body. + + +The caste beg between dawn and noon, wearing a long white or red +robe and a red turban folded from twisted strings of cloth like the +Marathas. Their status is somewhat low, but they are usually simple +and honest. Occasionally a man becomes a Gondhali in fulfilment of +a vow without leaving his own caste; he will then be initiated by a +member of the caste and given the necklace of cowries, and on every +Tuesday he will wear this and beg from five persons in honour of the +goddess Devi; while except for this observance he remains a member +of his own caste and pursues his ordinary business. + + + + + + +Gopal + +Gopal, Borekar.--Bibliography: Major Gunthorpe's Criminal Tribes; +Mr. Kitt's Berar Census Report, 1881. + +A small vagrant and criminal caste of Berar, where they numbered about +2000 persons in 1901. In the Central Provinces they were included +among the Nats in 1901, but in 1891 a total of 681 were returned. Here +they belong principally to the Nimar District, and Major Gunthorpe +considers that they entered Berar from Nimar and Indore. + +They are divided into five classes, the Marathi, Vir, Pangul, Pahalwan, +or Kham, and Gujarati Gopals. The ostensible occupation of all the +groups is the buying and selling of buffaloes. The word Gopal means a +cowherd and is a name of Krishna. The Marathi Gopals rank higher than +the rest, and all other classes will take food from them, while the +Vir Gopals eat the flesh of dead cattle and are looked down upon by the +others. The ostensible occupation of the Vir Gopals is that of making +mats from the leaves of the date-palm tree. They build their huts of +date-leaves outside a village and remain there for one or two years +or more until the headman tells them to move on. The name Borekar is +stated to have the meaning of mat-maker. The Pangul Gopals also make +mats, but in addition to this they are mendicants, begging from off +trees, and must be the same as the Harbola mendicants of the Central +Provinces. The Pangul spreads a cloth below a tree and climbing it +sits on some high branch in the early morning. Here he sings and +chants the praises of charitable persons until somebody throws a +small present on to the cloth. This he does only between cock-crow +and sunrise and not after sunrise. Others walk through the streets, +ejaculating dam! [100] dam! and begging from door to door. With the +exception of shaving after a death they never cut the hair either of +their head or face. Their principal deity is Dawal Malik, but they also +worship Khandoba; and they bury the bodies of their dead. The corpse is +carried to the grave in a jholi or wallet and is buried in a sitting +posture. In order to discover whether a dead ancestor has been reborn +in a child they have recourse to magic. A lamp is suspended from a +thread, and the upper stone of the grinding-mill is placed standing +upon the lower one. If either of them moves when the name of the dead +ancestor is pronounced they consider that he has been reborn. One +section of the Panguls has taken to agriculture, and these refuse to +marry with the mendicants, though eating and drinking with them. The +Pahalwan Gopals live in small tents and travel about, carrying their +belongings on buffaloes. They are wrestlers and gymnasts, and belong +mainly to Hyderabad. [101] The Kham Gopals are a similar group also +belonging to Hyderabad; and are so named because they carry about a +long pole (kham) on which they perform acrobatic feats. They also have +thick canvas bags, striped blue and white, in which they carry their +property. The Gujarati Gopals are lower than the other divisions, +who will not take food from them. They are tumblers and do feats of +strength and also perform on the tight-rope. All five groups, Major +Gunthorpe states, are inveterate cattle-thieves; and have colonies of +their people settled on the Indore and Hyderabad borders and between +them along the foot of the Satpura Hills. Buffaloes or other animals +which they steal are passed along from post to post and taken to +foreign territory in an incredibly short space of time. A considerable +proportion of them, however, have now taken to agriculture, and their +proper traditional calling is to sell milk and butter, for which +they keep buffaloes. Gopal is a name of Krishna, and they consider +themselves to be descended from the herdsmen of Brindaban. + + + + + + +GOSAIN + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. Names for the Gosains. + 2. The ten orders. + 3. Initiation. + 4. Dress. + 5. Methods of begging and greetings. + 6. The Dandis. + 7. The Rawanvansis. + 8. Monasteries. + 9. The fighting Gosains. + 10. Burial. + 11. Sexual indulgence. + 12. Missionary work. + 13. The Gosain caste. + + + + +1. Names for the Gosains. + +Gosain, Gusain, Sanniasi, Dasnami. [102]--A name for the orders of +religious mendicants of the Sivite sect, from which a caste has +now developed. In 1911 the Gosains numbered a little over 40,000 +persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, being distributed over +all Districts. The name Gosain signifies either gao-swami, master of +cows, or go-swami, master of the senses. Its significance sometimes +varies. Thus in Bengal the heads of Bairagi or Vaishnava monasteries +are called Gosain, and the priests of the Vishnuite Vallabhacharya +sect are known as Gokulastha Gosain. But over most of India, as in the +Central Provinces, Gosain appears to be a name applied to members of +the Sivite orders. Sanniasi means one who abandons the desires of the +world and the body. Properly every Brahman should become a Sanniasi +in the fourth stage or ashram of his life, when after marrying and +begetting a son to celebrate his funeral rites in the second stage, +he should retire to the forest, become a hermit and conquer all the +appetites and passions of the body in the third stage. Thereafter, +when the process of mortification is complete he should beg his bread +as a Sanniasi. But only those who enter the religious orders now become +Sanniasis, and the name is therefore confined to them. Dasnami means +the ten names, and refers to the ten orders in which the Gosains or +Sivite anchorites are commonly classified. Sadhu is a generic term for +a religious mendicant. The name Gosain is now more commonly applied +to the married members of the caste, who pursue ordinary avocations, +while the mendicants are known as Sadhu or Sanniasi. + + + + +2. The ten orders. + +The Gosains consider their founder to have been Shankar Acharya, +the great apostle of the revival of the worship of Siva in southern +India, who lived between the eighth and tenth centuries. He had four +disciples from whom the ten orders of Gosains are derived. These are +commonly stated as follows: + + + 1. Giri (peak or top of a hill). + 2. Puri (a town). + 3. Parbat (a mountain). + 4. Sagar (the ocean). + 5. Ban or Van (the forest). + 6. Tirtha (a shrine of pilgrimage). + 7. Bharthi (the goddess of speech). + 8. Saraswati (the goddess of learning). + 9. Aranya (forest). + 10. Ashram (a hermitage). + + +The names may perhaps be held to refer to the different places in which +the members of each order would pursue their austerities. The different +orders have their headquarters at great shrines. The Saraswati, +Bharthi and Puri orders are supposed to be attached to the monastery at +Sringeri in Mysore; the Tirtha and Ashram to that at Dwarka in Gujarat; +the Ban and Aranya to the Govardhan monastery at Puri; and the Giri, +Parbat and Sagara to the shrine of Badrinath in the Himalayas. + +Dandi is sometimes shown as one of the ten orders, but it seems to +be the special designation of certain ascetics who carry a staff +and may belong to either the Tirtha, Ashram, Bharthi or Saraswati +groups. Another name for Gosain ascetics is Abdhut, or one who +has separated himself from the world. The term Abdhut is sometimes +specially applied to followers of the Maratha saint, Dattatreya, +an incarnation of Siva. + +The commonest orders in the Central Provinces are Giri, Puri and +Bharthi, and the members frequently use the name of the order as +their surname. Members of the Aranya, Sagara and Parbat orders are +rarely met with at present. + + + + +3. Initiation. + +A notice of the Gosains who have become an ordinary caste will be given +later. Formerly only Brahmans or members of the twice-born castes +could become Gosains, but now a man of any caste, as Kurmi, Kunbi +or Mali, from whom a Brahman takes water, may be admitted. In some +localities it is said that Gonds and Kols can now be made Gosains, +and hence the social position of the Gosains has greatly fallen, +and high-caste Hindus will not take water from them. It is supposed, +however, that the Giri order is still recruited only from Brahmans. + +At initiation the body of a neophyte is cleaned with the five products +of the sacred cow, milk, curds, ghi, dung and urine. He drinks water in +which the great toe of his guru has been dipped and eats the leavings +of the latter's food, thus severing himself from his own caste. His +sacred thread is taken off and broken, and it is sometimes burned and +he eats the ashes. All the hair of his head is shaved, including the +scalp-lock, which every secular Hindu wears. A mantra or text is then +whispered or blown into his ear. + + + + +4. Dress. + +The novice is dressed in a cloth coloured with geru or red ochre, +such as the Gosains usually wear. It is probable that the red or +pink colour is meant to symbolise blood and to signify that the +Gosains allow the sacrifice of animals and the consumption of flesh, +and on this account they are called Lal Padri or red priest, while +Vishnuite mendicants, who dress in white, are called Sita Padri. He +has a necklace or rosary of the seeds of the rudraksha tree, [103] +sacred to Siva, consisting of 32 or 64 beads. These are like nuts +with a rough indented shell. On his forehead he marks with bhabhut +or ashes three horizontal lines to represent the trident of Siva, +or sometimes the eye of the god. Others make only two lines with a +dot above or below, and this sign is said to represent the phallic +emblem. A crescent moon or a triangle may also be made. [104] The +marks are often made in sandalwood, and the Gosains say that the +original sandalwood grows on a tree in the Himalayas, which is guarded +by a great snake so that nobody can approach it; but its scent is so +strong that all the surrounding trees of the grove are scented with +it and sandalwood is obtained from them. Those who worship Bhairon +make a round mark with vermilion between the eyes, taking it from +beneath the god's foot. A mendicant usually has a begging-bowl and +a pair of tongs, which are useful for kindling a fire. Those who +have visited Badrinath or one of the other Himalayan shrines have a +ring of iron, brass or copper on the arm, often inscribed with the +image of a deity. If they have been to the temple of Devi at Hinglaj +in the Lasbela State of Beluchistan they have a necklace of little +white stone beads called thumra; and one who has made a pilgrimage +to Rameshwaram at the extreme southern point of India has a ring +of conch-shell on the wrist. When he can obtain it a Gosain also +carries a tiger- or panther-skin, which he wears over his shoulders +and uses to sit and lie down on. Among the ancient Greeks it was the +custom to sleep in a temple or its avenue either on the bare ground +or on the skin of a sacred animal, in order to obtain visions or +appearances of the god in a dream or to be cured of diseases. [105] +Formerly the Gosains were accustomed to go about naked, and at the +religious festivals they would go in procession naked to bathe in the +river. At Amarnath in the Punjab they would throw themselves naked +on the block of ice which represented Siva. [106] The Naga Gosains, +so called because they were once accustomed to go naked into battle, +were a famous fighting corps. Though they shave the head and scalp-lock +on initiation the Gosains usually let the hair grow, and either have +it hanging down in matted locks over the shoulders, which gives them +a wild and unkempt appearance, or wind it on the top of the head into +a coil often thickened with strips of sheep's wool. They say that +they let the hair grow in imitation of the ancient forest ascetics, +who could not but let it grow as they had no means to shave it, and +also of the matted locks of the god Siva. Sometimes they let the +hair grow during the whole period of a pilgrimage, and on arrival +at the shrine of their destination shave it off and offer it to the +god. Those who are initiated on the banks of the Nerbudda throw the +hair cut from their head into the sacred river. + + + + +5. Methods of begging and greetings. + +They have various rules about begging. Some will never turn back to +receive alms. They may also make a rule only to accept the surplus of +food cooked for the family, and to refuse any of special quality or +cooked expressly for them. One Gosain, noticed by Mr. A. K. Smith, +always begged hopping, and only from five houses; he took from them +respectively two handfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, and sufficient +quantities of vegetables, spices and butter for his meal, and then +went hopping home. Those who are performing the perikrama or circuit +of the Nerbudda from its source to its mouth and back, do not cut +their hair or nails during the whole period of about three years. They +may not enter the Nerbudda above their knees nor wash their vessels +in it. After crossing any tributary river or stream in their path +they may not re-cross this; and if they have forgotten or left any +article behind, must abandon it unless they can persuade somebody +to go back and fetch it for them. Some carry a gourd with a single +string stretched on a stick, on which they twang some notes; others +have a belt of sheep's hair hung with the bells of bullocks which they +tie round the waist, so that the tinkling of the bells may announce +their coming. A common begging cry is Alakh, which is said to mean +'apart,' and to refer to themselves as being apart or separated from +the world. The beggar gives this cry and stands at the door of the +house for half a minute, shaking his body about all the time. If no +alms are brought in this time he moves on. + +When an ordinary Hindu meets a Gosain he says 'Namu Narayan' or +'I go to Narayan,' and the Gosain answers 'Narayan.' Narayan is a +name of Vishnu, and its use by the Gosains is curious. Those who +have performed the circuit of the Nerbudda say 'Har Nerbudda,' and +the person addressed answers 'Nerbudda Mai ki Jai' or 'Victory to +Mother Nerbudda.' + + + + +6. The Dandis. + +The Dandis are a special group of ascetics belonging to several of the +ten orders. According to one account a novice who desires to become +a Sanniasi must serve a period of probation for twelve years as a +Dandi. Others say that only a Brahman can be a Dandi, while members +of other castes may become Sanniasis, and a Brahman can only become +one if he is without father, mother, wife or child. [107] The Dandi +is so called because he has a dand or bamboo staff like the ancient +Vedic students. He must always carry this and never lay it down, +but when sleeping plant it in the ground. Sometimes a piece of red +cloth is tied round the staff. The Dandi should live in the forest, +and only come once a day to beg at a Brahman's house for a part of +such food as the family may have cooked. He should not ask for food +if any one else, even a dog, is waiting for it. He must not accept +money, or touch fire or any metal. As a matter of fact these rules +are disregarded, and the Dandi frequents towns and is accompanied by +companions who will accept all kinds of alms on his behalf. [108] +Dandis and Sanniasis do not worship idols, as they are themselves +considered to have become part of the deity. They repeat the phrase +'Sevoham,' which signifies 'I am Siva.' + + + + +7. The Rawanvansis. + +Another curious class of Gosains are the Rawanvansis, who go about +in the character of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, as he was when +he carried off Sita. The legend is that in order to do this, Rawan +first sent his brother in the shape of a golden deer before Rama's +palace. Sita saw it and said she must have the head of the deer, and +sent Rama to kill it. So Rama pursued it to the forest, and from there +Rawan cried out, imitating Rama's voice. Then Sita thought Rama was +being attacked and told his brother Lachman to go to his help. But +Lachman had been left in charge of her by Rama and refused to leave +her, till Sita said he was hoping Rama would be killed, so that he +might marry her. Then he drew a circle round her on the ground, and +telling her not to step outside it until his return, went off. Then +Rawan took the disguise of a beggar and came and begged for alms from +Sita. She told him to come inside the magic circle and she would give +him alms, but he refused. So finally Sita came outside the circle, +and Rawan at once seized her and carried her off to Ceylon. The +Rawanvansi Gosains wear rings of hair all up their arms and a rope +of hair round the waist, and the hair of their head hanging down. It +would appear that they are intended to represent some animal. They +smear vermilion on the forehead, and beg only at twilight and never at +any other time, whether they obtain food or not. In begging they will +never move backwards, so that when they have passed a house they cannot +take alms from it unless the householder brings the gift to them. + + + + +8. Monasteries. + +Unmarried Sanniasis often reside in Maths or monasteries. The superior +is called Mahant, and he appoints his successor by will from the +members. The Mahant admits all those willing and qualified to enter +the order. If the applicant is young the consent of the parents is +usually obtained; and parents frequently vow to give a child to the +order. Many convents have considerable areas of land attached to them, +and also dependent institutions. The whole property of the convent and +its dependencies seems to be at the absolute disposal of the Mahant, +but he is bound to give food, raiment and lodging to the inmates, +and he entertains all travellers belonging to the order. [109] + + + + +9. The fighting Gosains. + +In former times the Gosains often became soldiers and entered the +service of different military chiefs. The most famous of these fighting +priests were the Naga Gosains of the Jaipur State of Rajputana, who +are said to have been under an obligation from their guru or religious +chief to fight for the Raja of Jaipur whenever required. They received +rent-free lands and pay of two pice (1/2d.) a day, which latter was +put into a common treasury and expended on the purchase of arms and +ammunition whenever needed for war. They would also lend money, and if +a debtor could not pay would make him give his son to be enrolled in +the force. The 7000 Naga Gosains were placed in the vanguard of the +Jaipur army in battle. Their weapons were the bow, arrow, shield, +spear and discus. The Gosain proprietor of the Deopur estate in +Raipur formerly kept up a force of Naga Gosains, with which he used +to collect the tribute from the feudatory chiefs of Chhattisgarh on +behalf of the Raja of Nagpur. It is said that he once invaded Bastar +with this object, where most of the Gosains died of cholera. But after +they had fasted for three days, the goddess Danteshwari appeared to +them and promised them her protection. And they took the goddess away +with them and installed her in their own village in Raipur. Forbes +records that in Gujarat an English officer was in command of a troop +known as the Gosain's wife's troops. These Naga Gosains wore only a +single white garment, like a sleeveless shirt reaching to the knees, +and hence it is said that they were called naked. The Gosains and +Bairagis, or adherents of Siva and Vishnu, were often engaged in +religious quarrels on the merits of their respective deities, and +sometimes came to blows. A favourite point of rivalry was the right +of bathing first in the Ganges on the occasion of one of the great +religious fairs at Allahabad or Hardwar. The Gosains claim priority of +bathing, on the ground that the Ganges flows from the matted locks of +Siva; while the Bairagis assert that the source of the river is from +Vishnu's foot. In 1760 a pitched battle on this question ended in the +defeat of the Bairagis, of whom 1800 were slain. Again in 1796 the +Gosains engaged in battle with the Sikh pilgrims and were defeated +with the loss of 500 men. [110] During the reign of Akbar a combat +took place in the Emperor's presence between the two Sivite sects +of Gosains, or Sanniasis and Jogis, having been apparently arranged +for his edification, to decide which sect had the best ground for +its pretensions to supernatural power. The Jogis were completely +defeated. [111] + + + + +10. Burial. + +A dead Sanniasi is always buried in the sitting attitude of religious +contemplation with the legs crossed. The grave may be dug with a side +receptacle for the corpse so that the earth, on being filled in, does +not fall on it. The corpse is bathed and rubbed with ashes and clad +in a new reddish-coloured shirt, with a rosary round the neck. The +begging-wallet with some flour and pulse are placed in the grave, +and also a gourd and staff. Salt is put round the body to preserve +it, and an earthen pot is put over the head. Sometimes cocoanuts are +broken on the skull, to crack it and give exit to the soul. Perhaps +the idea of burial and of preserving the corpse with salt is that +the body of an ascetic does not need to be purified by fire from the +appetites and passions of the flesh like that of an ordinary Hindu; +it is already cleansed of all earthly frailty by his austerities, and +the belief may therefore have originally been that such a man would +carry his body with him to the afterworld or to absorption with the +deity. The burial of a Sanniasi is often accompanied with music and +signs of rejoicing; Mr. Oman describes such a funeral in which the +corpse was seated in a litter, open on three sides so that it could be +seen; it was tied to the back of the litter, and garlands of flowers +partly covered the body, but could not conceal the hideousness of death +as the unconscious head rolled helplessly from side to side with the +movement of the litter. The procession was headed by a European brass +band and by men carrying censers of incense. [112] + + + + +11. Sexual indulgence. + +Celibacy is the rule of the Gosain orders, and a man's property passes +in inheritance to a selected chela or disciple. But the practice of +keeping women is very common, even outside the large section of the +community which now recognises marriage. Women could be admitted +into the order, when they had to shave their heads, assume the +ochre-coloured shirt and rub their bodies with ashes. Afterwards, +with the permission of the guru and on payment of a fine, they could +let their hair grow again, at least temporarily. These women were +supposed to remain quite chaste and live in nunneries, but many of +them lived with men of the order. It is not known to what extent +women are admitted at present. The sons born of such unions would be +adopted as chelas or disciples by other Gosains, and made their heirs +by a reciprocal arrangement. Women who are convicted of some social +offence, or who wish to leave their husbands, often join the order +nominally and live with a Gosain or are married into the caste. Many +of the wandering mendicants lead an immoral life, and scandals about +their enticing away the wives of rich Hindus are not infrequent. [113] +During their visits to villages they also engage in intrigues, and +a ribald Gond song sung at the Holi festival describes the pleasure +of the village women at the arrival of a Gosain owing to the sexual +gratification which they expected to receive from him. + + + + +12. Missionary work. + +Nevertheless the wandering Gosains have done much to foster and +maintain the Hindu religion among the people. They are the gurus or +spiritual preceptors of the middle and lower castes, and though their +teaching may be of little advantage, it perhaps quickens and maintains +to some extent the religious feelings of their clients. In former times +the Gosains travelled over the wildest tracts of country, proselytising +the primitive non-Aryan tribes, for whose conversion to Hinduism they +are largely responsible. On such journeys they necessarily carried +their lives in their hands, and not infrequently lost them. + + + + +13. The Gosain caste. + +The majority of the Gosains are, however, now married and form an +ordinary caste. Buchanan states that the ten different orders became +exogamous groups, the members of which married with each other, but +it is doubtful whether this is the case at present. It is said that +all Giri Gosains marry, whether they are mendicants or not, while +the Bharthi order can marry or not as they please. They prohibit +any marriage between first cousins, but permit widow remarriage and +divorce. They eat the flesh of all clean animals and also of fowls, +and drink liquor, and will take cooked food from the higher castes, +including Sunars and Kunbis. Hence they do not rank high socially, and +Brahmans do not take water from them, but their religious character +gives them some prestige. Many Gosains have become landholders, +obtaining their estates either as charitable grants from clients +or through moneylending transactions. In this capacity they do not +usually turn out well, and are often considered harsh landlords and +grasping creditors. + + + + + + +Gowari + + +1. Origin of the caste. + +Gowari. [114]--The herdsman or grazier caste of the Maratha country, +corresponding to the Ahirs or Gaolis. The name is derived from gai +or gao, the cow, and means a cowherd. The Gowaris numbered more +than 150,000 persons in 1911, of whom nearly 120,000 belonged to the +Nagpur division and nearly 30,000 to Berar. In localities where the +Gowaris predominate, Ahirs or Gaolis, the regular herdsman caste, +are found only in small numbers. The honorific title of the Gowaris +is Dhare, which is said to mean 'One who keeps cattle.' The Gowaris +rank distinctly below the Ahirs or Gaolis. The legend of their +origin is that an Ahir, who was tending the cows of Krishna, stood +in need of a helper. He found a small boy in the forest and took +him home and brought him up. He then gave to the boy the work of +grazing cows in the jungle, while he himself stayed at home and made +milk and butter. This boy was the ancestor of the Gowari caste. His +descendants took to eating fowls and peacocks and drinking liquor, +and hence were degraded below the Gaolis. But the latter will allow +Gowaris to sit at their feasts and eat, they will carry the corpse of +a Gowari to the grave, and they will act as members of the panchayat +in readmitting a Gowari who has been put out of caste. In the Maratha +country any man who touches the corpse of a man of another caste is +temporarily excommunicated, and the fact that a Gaoli will do this +for a Gowari demonstrates the close relationship of the castes. The +legend, in fact, indicates quite clearly and correctly the origin of +the Gowaris. The small boy in the forest was a Gond, and the Gowari +caste is of mixed descent from Ahirs and Gonds. The Ahirs or Gaolis +of the Maratha country have largely abandoned the work of grazing +cattle in the forest, and have taken to the more profitable business +of making milk and ghi. The herdsman's duties have been relegated to +the mixed class of Gowaris, produced from the unions of Ahirs and +Gonds in the forests, and not improbably including a considerable +section of pure Gond blood. At present only Gaolis and no other caste +are admitted into the Gowari community, though there is evidence that +the rule was not formerly so strict. + + + + +2. Subcastes. + +The Gowaris have three divisions, the Gai Gowari, Inga, and Maria or +Gond Gowari. The Gai or cow Gowaris are the highest and probably have +more Gaoli blood in them. The Inga and Maria or Gond Gowaris are more +directly derived from the Gonds. Maria is the name given to a large +section of the Gond tribe in Chanda. Both the other two subcastes +will take cooked food from the Gai Gowaris and the Gond Gowaris +from the Inga, but the Inga subcaste will not take it from the Gond, +nor the Gai Gowaris from either of the other two. The Gond Gowaris +have been treated as a distinct caste and a separate article is given +on them, but at the census Mr. Marten has amalgamated them with the +Gowaris. This is probably more correct, as they are locally held to +be a branch of the caste. But their customs differ in some points +from those of the other Gowaris. They will admit outsiders from any +respectable caste and worship the Gond gods, [115] and there seems +no harm, therefore, in allowing the separate article on them to remain. + + + + +3. Totemism and exogamy. + +The Gowaris have exogamous sections of the titular and totemistic +types, such as Chachania from chachan, a bird, Lohar from loha iron, +Ambadare a mango-branch, Kohria from the Kohri or Kohli caste, Sarwaina +a Gond sept, and Rawat the name of the Ahir caste in Chhattisgarh. Some +septs do not permit intermarriage between their members, saying that +they are Dudh-Bhais or foster-brothers, born from the same mother. Thus +the Chachania, Kohria, Senwaria, Sendua (vermilion) and Wagare (tiger) +septs cannot intermarry. They say that their fathers were different, +but their mothers were related or one and the same. This is apparently +a relic of polyandry, and it is possible that in some cases the Gonds +may have allowed Ahirs sojourning in the forest to have access to +their wives during the period of their stay. If this was permitted +to Ahirs of different sections coming to the same Gond village in +successive years, the offspring might be the ancestors of sections +who consider themselves to be related to each other in the manner of +the Gowari sections. + +Marriage is prohibited within the same section or kur, and between +sections related to each other as Dudh-Bhais in the manner explained +above. A man can marry his daughter to his sister's son, but cannot +take her daughter for his son. The children of two sisters cannot +be married. + + + + +4. Marriage customs. + +Girls are usually married after attaining maturity, and a bride-price +is paid which is normally two khandis (800 lbs.) of grain, Rs. 16 to +20 in cash, and a piece of cloth. The auspicious date of the wedding +is calculated by a Mahar Mohturia or soothsayer. Brahmans are not +employed, the ceremony being performed by the bhanya or sister's son of +either the girl's father or the boy's father. If he is not available, +any one whom either the girl's father or the boy's father addresses +as bhanja or nephew in the village, according to the common custom of +addressing each other by terms of relationship, even though he may be +no relative and belong to another caste, may be substituted; and if +no such person is available a son-in-law of either of the parties. The +peculiar importance thus attached to the sister's son as a relation is +probably a relic of the matriarchate, when a man's sister's son was +his heir. The substitution of a son-in-law who might inherit in the +absence of a sister's son perhaps strengthens this view. The wedding +is held mainly according to the Maratha ritual. [116] The procession +goes to the girl's house, and the bridegroom is wrapped in a blanket +and carries a spear, in the absence of which the wedding cannot be +held. A spear is also essential among the Gonds. The ancestors of the +caste are invited to the wedding by beating a drum and calling on +them to attend. The original ancestors are said to be Kode Kodwan, +the names of two Gond gods, Baghoba (the tiger-god), and Meghnath, +son of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, after whom the Gonds are +called Rawanvansi, or descendants of Rawan. The wedding costs about +Rs. 50, all of which is spent by the boy's father. The girl's father +only gives a feast to the caste out of the amount which he receives +as bride-price. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. + + + + +5. Funeral rites. + +The dead are either buried or burnt, burial being more common. The +corpse is laid with head to the south and feet to the north. On +returning from the funeral they go and drink at the liquor-shop, and +then kill a cock on the spot where the deceased died, and offer some +meat to his spirit, placing it outside the house. The caste-fellows +sit and wait until a crow comes and pecks at the food, when they think +that the deceased has enjoyed it, and begin to eat themselves. If no +crow comes before night the food may be given to a cow, and the party +can then begin to eat. When the next wedding is held in the family, +the deceased is brought down from the skies and enshrined among the +deified ancestors. + + + + +6. Religion. + +The principal deities of the Gowaris are the Kode Kodwan or deified +ancestors. They are worshipped at the annual festivals, and also at +weddings. When a man or woman dies without children their spirits +are known as Dhal, and are worshipped in the families to which +they belonged. A male Dhal is represented by a stick of bamboo with +one cross-piece at the top, and a female Dhal by a stick with two +others crossing each other lashed to it at the top. These sticks are +worshipped at the Diwali festival, and carried in procession. Dudhera +is a godling worshipped for the protection of cattle. He is represented +by a clay horse placed near a white ant-hill. If a cow stops giving +milk her udder is smoked with the burning wood of a tree called sanwal, +and this is supposed to drive away the spirits who drink the milk +from the udder. All Gowaris revere the haryal, or green pigeon. They +say that it gives a sound like a Gowari calling his cows, and that +it is a kinsman. They would on no account kill this bird. They say +that the cows will go to a tree from which green pigeons are cooing, +and that on one occasion when a thief was driving away their cows a +green pigeon cooed from a tree, and the cows turned round and came +back again. This is like the story of the sacred geese at Rome, +who gave warning of the attack of the Goths. + + + + +7. Caste rules and the panchayat. + +The head of the caste committee is known as Shendia, from shendi, a +scalp-lock or pig-tail, perhaps because he is at the top of the caste +as the scalp-lock is at the top of the head. The Shendia is elected, +and holds office for life. He has to readmit offenders into caste by +being the first to eat and drink with them, thus taking their sins on +himself. On such occasions it is necessary to have a little opium, +which is mixed with sugar and water, and distributed to all members +of the caste. If the quantity is insufficient for every one to drink, +the man responsible for preparing it is fined, and this mixture, +especially the opium, is indispensable on all such occasions. The +custom indicates that a sacred or sacrificial character is attributed +to the opium, as the drinking of the mixture together is the sign of +the readmission of a temporary outcaste into the community. After this +has been drunk he becomes a member of the caste, even though he may +not give the penalty feast for some time afterwards. The Ahirs and +Sunars of the Maratha country have the same rite of purification by +the common drinking of opium and water. A caste penalty is incurred +for the removal of bital or impurity arising from the usual offences, +and among others for touching the corpse of a man of any other caste, +or of a buffalo, horse, cow, cat or dog, for using abusive language +to a casteman at any meeting or feast, and for getting up from a +caste feast without permission from the headman. For touching the +corpse of a prohibited animal and for going to jail a man has to get +his head, beard and whiskers shaved. If a woman becomes with child +by a man of another caste, she is temporarily expelled, but can be +readmitted after the child has been born and she has disposed of it to +somebody else. Such children are often made over for a few rupees to +Muhammadans, who bring them up as menial servants in their families, +or, if they have no child of their own, sometimes adopt them. On +readmission a lock of the woman's hair is cut off. In the same case, +if no child is born of the liaison, the woman is taken back with the +simple penalty of a feast. Permanent expulsion is imposed for taking +food from, or having an intrigue with a member of an impure caste as +Madgi, Mehtar, Pardhan, Mahar and Mang. + + + + +8. Social customs. + +The Gowaris eat pork, fowls, rats, lizards and peacocks, and +abstain only from beef and the flesh of monkeys, crocodiles and +jackals. They will take food from a Mana, Marar or Kohli, and water +from a Gond. Kunbis will take water from them, and Gonds, Dhimars +and Dhobis will accept cooked food. All Gowari men are tattooed +with a straight vertical line on the forehead, and many of them have +the figures of a peacock, deer or horse on the right shoulder or on +both shoulders. A man without the mark on the forehead will scarcely +be admitted to be a true Gowari, and would have to prove his birth +before he was allowed to join a caste feast. Women are tattooed with +a pattern of straight and crooked lines on the right arm below the +elbow, which they call Sita's arm. They have a vertical line standing +on a horizontal one on the forehead, and dots on the temples. + + + + + + +GUJAR + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Historical notice of the caste. + 2. The Gujars and the Khazars. + 3. Predatory character of the Gujars in Northern India. + 4. Subdivisions. + 5. Marriage. + 6. Disposal of the dead. + 7. Religion. + 8. Character. + + + + +1. Historical notice of the caste. + +Gujar.--A great historical caste who have given their name to the +Gujarat District and the town of Gujaranwala in the Punjab, the +peninsula of Gujarat or Kathiawar and the tract known as Gujargarh in +Gwalior. In the Central Provinces the Gujars numbered 56,000 persons +in 1911, of whom the great majority belonged to the Hoshangabad and +Nimar Districts. In these Provinces the caste is thus practically +confined to the Nerbudda Valley, and they appear to have come here +from Gwalior probably in the middle of the sixteenth century, to +which period the first important influx of Hindus into this area +has been ascribed. But some of the Nimar Gujars are immigrants from +Gujarat. Owing to their distinctive appearance and character and their +exploits as cattle-raiders, the origin of the Gujars has been the +subject of much discussion. General Cunningham identified them with +the Yueh-chi or Tochari, the tribe of Indo-Scythians who invaded India +in the first century of the Christian era. The king Kadphises I. and +his successors belonged to the Kushan section of the Yueh-chi tribe, +and their rule extended over north-western India down to Gujarat in the +period 45-225 A.D. Mr. V. A. Smith, however, discards this theory and +considers the Gujars or Gurjaras to have been a branch of the white +Huns who invaded India in the fifth and sixth centuries. He writes: +[117] "The earliest foreign immigration within the limits of the +historical period which can be verified is that of the Sakas in the +second century B.C.; and the next is that of the Yueh-chi and Kushans +in the first century A.D. Probably none of the existing Rajput clans +can carry back their genuine pedigrees so far. The third recorded +great irruption of foreign barbarians occurred during the fifth +century and the early part of the sixth. There are indications that +the immigration from Central Asia continued during the third century, +but, if it did, no distinct record of the event has been preserved, +and, so far as positive knowledge goes, only three certain irruptions +of foreigners on a large scale through the northern and north-western +passes can be proved to have taken place within the historical period +anterior to the Muhammadan invasions of the tenth and eleventh +centuries. The first and second, as above observed, were those of +the Sakas and Yueh-chi respectively, and the third was that of the +Hunas or white Huns. It seems to be clearly established that the Hun +group of tribes or hordes made their principal permanent settlements +in the Punjab and Rajputana. The most important element in the group +after the Huns themselves was that of the Gurjaras, whose name still +survives in the spoken form Gujar as the designation of a widely +diffused middle-class caste in north-western India. The prominent +position occupied by Gurjara kingdoms in early mediaeval times is a +recent discovery. The existence of a small Gurjara principality in +Bharoch (Broach), and of a larger state in Rajputana, has been known +to archaeologists for many years, but the recognition of the fact +that Bhoja and the other kings of the powerful Kanauj dynasty in the +ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries were Gurjaras is of very recent +date and is not yet general. Certain misreadings of epigraphic dates +obscured the true history of that dynasty, and the correct readings +have been established only within the last two or three years. It is +now definitely proved that Bhoja (circ. A.D. 840-890), his predecessors +and successors belonged to the Pratihara (Parihar) clan of the Gurjara +tribe or caste, and, consequently, that the well-known clan of Parihar +Rajputs is a branch of the Gurjara or Gujar stock." [118] + + + + +2. The Gujars and the Khazars. + +Sir J. Campbell identified the Gujars with the Khazar tribe of Central +Asia: [119] "What is known of the early history of the Gujaras in +India points to their arrival during the last quarter of the fifth +or the first quarter of the sixth century (A.D. 470-520). That is +the Gujaras seem to have formed part of the great horde of which the +Juan-Juan or Avars, and the Ephthalites, Yetas or White Hunas were +leading elements. The question remains: How far does the arrival of +the Gujara in India, during the early sixth century, agree with what is +known of the history of the Khazar? The name Khazar appears under the +following forms: Among Chinese as Kosa, among Russians as Khwalisses, +among Byzantines as Chozars or Chazars, among Armenians as Khazirs and +among Arabs as Khozar. Other variations come closer to Gujara. These +are Gazar, the form Kazar takes to the north of the sea of Asof; +Ghysar, the name for Khazars who have become Jews; and Ghusar, the +form of Khazar in use among the Lesghians of the Caucasus. Howarth +and the writer in the Encyclopædia Britannica follow Klaproth in +holding that the Khazars are the same as the White Hunas.... + +"Admitting that the Khazar and White Huna are one, it must also be +the case that the Khazars included two distinct elements, a fair or +Ak-Khazar, the Akatziroi or Khazaroi of Byzantine historians, and a +dark or Kara Khazar. The Kara Khazar was short, ugly and as black +as an Indian. He was the Ughrian nomad of the steppes, who formed +the rank and file of the army. The White Khazar or White Huna was +fair-skinned, black-haired and beautiful, their women (in the ninth +and tenth centuries) being sought after in the bazars of Baghdad and +Byzantium. According to Klaproth, a view adopted by the writer in +the Encyclopædia Britannica, the White Khazar represented the white +race which, since before Christ has been settled round the Caspian. As +White Hunas, Ephthalites, [120] White Ughrians and White Bulgars, this +white race were the carriers between Europe and East Asia; they were +also the bearers of the brunt of the Tartar inroads. A trace both of +the beautiful and coarse clans seems to survive in the complimentary +Marwar proverb, 'Handsome as a Huna,' and in the abusive Gujarat +proverb, 'Yellow and short as a Huna's beard.' Under its Hindu form +Gurjara, Khazar appears to have become the name by which the great +bulk of the sixth-century horde was known." Sir J. Campbell was of +opinion that the Sesodia or Gahlot Rajputs, the most illustrious of +all the clans, were of Gujar stock, as well as the Parihar, Chauhan, +and Chalukya or Solanki; these last were three of the Agnikula clans +or those created from the firepit, [121] and a Solanki dynasty ruled +in Gujarat. He also considered the Nagar Brahmans of Gujarat to be +derived from the Gujars and considerable sections of the Ahir and +Kunbi castes. The Badgujar (great Gujar) clan of Rajputs is no doubt +also an aristocratic branch of the caste. In Ajmere it is said that +though all Gujars are not Rajputs, no Rajput becomes a hero unless +he is suckled by a Gujar woman. Gujarika dudh, nahari ka dudh; or +'Gujar's milk is tiger's milk.' A Rajput who has not been suckled by +a Gujar woman is a gidar or jackal. [122] + + + + +3. Predatory character of the Gujars in northern India. + +The fact of the White Huns being tall and of fine features, in contrast +to the horde which invaded Europe under Attila, accounts for these +characteristics being found among the highest Rajput clans, who, +as has been seen, are probably derived from them. The Gujar caste +generally is now, however, no doubt of mixed and impure blood. They +were distinguished in the past as vagrant and predatory marauders, +and must have assimilated various foreign elements. Mr. Crooke +writes of them: [123] "The Gujars as a tribe have always been +noted for their turbulence and habit of cattle-stealing. Babar in +his Memoirs describes how the commander of the rearguard captured +a few Gujar ruffians who followed the camp, decapitated them and +sent their heads to the Emperor. The Gujars of Pali and Pahal +became exceedingly audacious while Sher Shah was fortifying Delhi, +and he marched to the hills and expelled them so that not a vestige +of their habitations was left. Jahangir remarks that the Gujars live +chiefly on milk and curds and seldom cultivate land; and Babar says: +'Every time I entered Hindustan the Jats and Gujars have regularly +poured down in prodigious numbers from the hills and wilds to carry +off oxen and buffaloes. These were the wretches that really inflicted +the chief hardships and were guilty of the chief oppression in the +country.' They maintained their old reputation in the Mutiny when they +perpetrated numerous outrages and seriously impeded the operations +of the British Army before Delhi." In northern India the Gujars are +a pastoral caste. The saying about them is-- + + + Ahir, Gadaria, Gujar, + E tinon tâken ujar, + + +or, 'The Ahir, Gadaria and Gujar want waste land'; that is for grazing +their flocks. In Kangra the Gujars generally keep buffaloes. Here +they are described as "A fine, manly race with peculiar and handsome +features. They are mild and inoffensive in manner, and in these hills +are not distinguished by the bad pre-eminence which attaches to their +race in the plains." [124] Sir D. Ibbetson had a very unfavourable +opinion of the Gujars of the plains, of whom he wrote as follows: +[125] "The Gujar is a fine stalwart fellow, of precisely the same +physical type as the Jat; and the theory of aboriginal descent which +has been propounded is to my mind conclusively negatived by his +cast of countenance. He is of the same social standing as the Jat, +or perhaps slightly inferior; but the two eat and drink in common +without any scruple, and the proverb says: 'The Jat, Gujar, Ahir and +Gola are all hail fellow well met.' But he is far inferior in both +personal character and repute to the Jat. He is lazy to a degree, and +a wretched cultivator; his women, though not secluded, will not do +field-work save of the lightest kind; while his fondness for cattle +extends to those of other people. The difference between a Gujar +and a Rajput cattle-thief was once explained to me thus by a Jat: +'The Rajput will steal your buffalo. But he will not send his old +father to say he knows where it is and will get it back for Rs. 20, +and then keep the Rs. 20 and the buffalo too. The Gujar will.'" + + + + +4. Subdivisions. + +The Gujars of the Central Provinces have, however, entirely given up +the predatory habits of their brethren in northern India and have +developed into excellent cultivators and respectable law-abiding +citizens. In Hoshangabad they have three subcastes, Lekha, Mundle +and Jadam. The Mundle or 'Shaven' are so called because they take +off their turbans when they eat and expose their crowns bare of hair, +while the Lekha eat with their turbans on. The Mundle are also known as +Rewe, from the Rewa or Nerbudda, near which they reside. The Jadam are +probably an offshoot from the cultivating caste of Hoshangabad of that +name, Jadam being a corruption of Jadubansi, a tribe of Rajputs. The +Badgujars, who belong to Nimar, consider themselves the highest, +deriving their name from bara or 'great' Gujar. As already seen, +there is a Badgujar clan of Rajputs. The Nimar Badgujars, however, +were formerly engaged in the somewhat humble calling of clearing +cotton of its seeds, and on this account they are also known as +Ludhare, the word lodhna meaning to work the hand-ginning machine +(charkhi). It seems possible that the small caste of Lorhas of the +Hoshangabad District, whose special avocation is to grow san-hemp, +may be derived from these Ludhare Gujars. The Kekre or Kanwe subcaste +are the lowest and are of illegitimate descent. They are known as Kekre +or 'Crabs,' but prefer their other name. They will take food from the +other subcastes, but these do not return the compliment. Another group +in the Sohagpur Tahsil of Hoshangabad are the Lilorhia Gujars. They +say that their ancestors were grazing calves when some of them with +their herdsmen were stolen by Brahma. Then Krishna created fresh +cowherds and the Lilorhias were made from the sweat of his forehead +(lilat). Afterwards Brahma restored the original cowherds, who were +known as Murelia, because they were the first players on the murli +or flute. [126] The Badgujars or highest branch of the clan are +descendants of these Murelias. The caste have also a set of exogamous +groups, several of which bear the names of Rajput clans, while others +are called after villages, titles or nicknames or natural objects. A +man is not permitted to marry any one belonging either to his own +sept or that of his mother or grandmother. + + + + +5. Marriage. + +At a Gujar wedding four plough-yokes are laid out to form a square +under the marriage booth, with a copper pot full of water in the +centre. At the auspicious moment the bride's hand is placed on that +of the bridegroom, and the two walk seven times round the pot, the +bridegroom leading for the first four rounds and the bride for the +last three. Widows are allowed to remarry, and, as girls are rather +scarce in the caste, a large price is often paid for the widow to +her father or guardian, though this is not willingly admitted. As +much as Rs. 3000 is recorded to have been paid. A widow marriage is +known as Natra or Pat. A woman is forbidden to marry any relative of +her first husband. When the marriage of a widow is to take place a +fee of Rs. 1-4 must be paid to the village proprietor to obtain his +consent. The Gujars of the Bulandshahr District of the United Provinces +furnish, Mr. Crooke says, [127] perhaps the only well-established +instance of polyandry among the Hindus of the plains. Owing to the +scarcity of women in the caste it was customary for the wife of one +brother, usually the eldest, to be occasionally at the disposal of +other unmarried brothers living in the house. The custom arose owing +to the lack of women caused by the prevalence of female infanticide, +and now that this has been stopped it is rapidly dying out, while no +trace of it is believed to exist in the Central Provinces. + + + + +6. Disposal of the dead. + +The bodies of unmarried persons are buried, and also of those who die +of any epidemic disease. Others are cremated. The funeral of an elderly +man of good means and family is an occasion for great display. A large +feast is given and the Brahman priests of the caste go about inviting +all the Gujars to attend. Sometimes the number of guests rises to three +or four thousand. At the conclusion of the feast one of the hosts claps +his hands and all the guests then get up and immediately depart without +ceremony or saying farewell. Such an occasion is known as Gujarwada, +and the Gujars often spend as much, or more, on a funeral as on a +wedding, in the belief that the outlay is of direct benefit to the +dead man's spirit. This idea is inculcated and diligently fostered +by the family priests and those Brahmans who receive gifts for the +use of the dead, the greed of these cormorants being insatiable. + + + + +7. Religion. + +The household goddess of the caste is known as Kul Devi, the word +kul meaning family. To her a platform is erected inside the house, +and she must be worshipped by the members of the family alone, +no stranger being present. Offerings of cocoanuts, rice, turmeric +and flowers are made to her, but no animal sacrifices. When a son +of the family dies unmarried, an image of him, known as Mujia, is +made on a piece of silver, copper or brass, and is worshipped on +Mondays and Fridays during the month of Magh (January). On one of +these days also a feast is given to the caste. Each member of the +caste has a guru or spiritual preceptor, who visits him every second +or third year and receives a small present of a cocoanut or a piece +of cloth. But he does not seem to perform any duties. The guru may +belong to any of the religious mendicant castes. A man who is without +a guru is known as Nugra and is looked down on. To meet him in the +morning is considered unlucky and portends misfortune. Sir C. Elliot +[128] characterised the Mundle Gujars as "A very religious race; they +never plough on the new moon nor on the 8th of the month, because it +is Krishna's birthday. Their religious and social head is the Mahant +of the Ramjidas temple at Hoshangabad." In Nimar many of the Gujars +belong to the Pirzada sect, which is a kind of reformed creed, based +on a mixture of Hinduism and Islam. + + + + +8. Character. + +The Gujars wear the dress of northern India and their women usually +have skirts (lahenga) and not saris or body-cloths. Married women +have a number of strings of black beads round the neck and widows +must change these for red ones. As a rule neither men nor women are +tattooed. The men sometimes have their hair long and wear beards +and whiskers. The Gujars are now considered the best cultivators of +the Nimar District. They are fond of irrigation and sink unfaced +wells to water their land and get a second crop off it. They are +generally prosperous and make good landlords. Members of the caste +have the custom of lending and borrowing among themselves and not +from outsiders, and this no doubt conduces to mutual economy and +solvency. Like keen cultivators elsewhere, such as the Panwars +and Kurmis, the Gujar sets store by having a good house and good +cattle. The return from a Mundle Gujar's wedding, Captain Forsyth +wrote, [129] is a sight to be seen. Every Gujar from far and near has +come with his whole family in his best bullock-cart gaily ornamented, +and, whatever the road may be, nothing but a smash will prevent a +breakneck race homewards at full gallop, cattle which have won in +several such races acquiring a much coveted reputation throughout +the District. + + + + + + +GURAO + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Origin of the caste. + 2. Internal structure. + 3. Marriage and ceremonies of adolescence. + 4. Birth customs. + 5. The sacred thread. + 6. Funeral customs. + 7. Social position. + 8. The Jain Guraos. + + + + +1. Origin of the caste. + +Gurao. [130]--A caste of village priests of the temples of Mahadeo +in the Maratha Districts. They numbered about 14,000 persons in the +Central Provinces and Berar in 1911. The Guraos say that they were +formerly Brahmans and worshippers of Siva, but for some negligence +or mistake in his ritual they were cursed by the god and degraded +from the status of Brahmans, though subsequently the god relented +and permitted them to worship him and take the offerings made to him. + +It is related that a certain Brahman, who was a votary of Siva, had to +go on a journey. He left his son behind and strictly enjoined on him +to perform the worship of the god at midday. The son had bathed and +purified himself for this purpose, when shortly before midday his wife +came to him and so importuned him to have conjugal intercourse with her +that he was obliged to comply. It was then midday and in his impure +condition the son went to the shrine of the god to worship him. But +Siva cursed him and said that his descendants should be degraded from +the status of Brahmans, though he afterwards relented so far as to +permit of their continuing to act as his priests; and this was the +origin of the Guraos. It seems doubtful, however, whether the caste +are really of Brahman origin. They were formerly village priests, +and Grant-Duff gives the Gurao as one of the village menials in the +Maratha villages. They have the privilege of taking the Naivedya +or offerings of cooked food made to the god Mahadeo, which Brahmans +will not accept. They also sell leaf-plates and flowers and bel leaves +[131] which are offered at the temples of Mahadeo; and on the festival +of Shivratri and during the month of Shrawan (July) they take round +the bel leaves which the cultivators require for their offerings and +receive presents in return. In Wardha the Guraos get small gifts of +grain from the cultivators at seed-time and harvest. They also act as +village musicians and blow the conch-shell, beat the drum and play +other musical instruments for the morning and evening worship at +the temple. They play on the cymbals and drums at the marriages of +Brahmans and other high castes. In the Bombay Presidency [132] some +are astrologers and fortune-tellers, and others make the basing or +coronet of flowers which the bridegroom wears. Sometimes they play on +the drum or fiddle for their spiritual followers, the dancing-girls +or Kalavants. When a dancing-girl became pregnant she worshipped +the Gurao, and he, in return, placed the missi or tooth-powder made +from myrobalans on her teeth. If this was not done before her child +was born, a Kalavantin was put out of caste. In some localities +the Guraos will take food from Kunbis. And further, as will be seen +subsequently, the caste have no proper gotras or exogamous sections, +but in arranging their marriages they simply avoid persons having +a common surname. All these considerations point to the fact that +the caste is not of Brahmanical origin but belongs to a lower class +of the population. Nevertheless in Wardha they are known as Shaiva +Brahmans and rank above the Kunbis. They may study the Sama Veda only +and not the others, and may repeat the Rudra Gayatri or sacred verse +of Siva. Clearly the Brahmans could not accept the offerings of cooked +food made at Siva's shrine; though the larger temples of this deity +have Brahman priests. It seems uncertain whether Siva or Mahadeo was +first a village deity and was subsequently exalted to the position of +a member of the supreme Hindu Trinity, or whether the opposite process +took place and the Guraos obtained their priestly functions on his +worship being popularised. But in any case it would appear that they +were originally a class of village priests regarded as the servants +of the cultivating community, by whose gifts and offerings they were +maintained. Grant-Duff in enumerating the village servants says: +"Ninth, the Gurao, who is a Sudra employed to wash the ornaments and +attend the idol in the village temples, and on occasions of feasting +to prepare the patraoli or leaves which the Hindus substitute for +plates. They are also trumpeters by profession and in this capacity +are much employed in Maratha armies." [133] + + + + +2. Internal structure. + +The caste has several subdivisions which are principally of a +territorial nature, as Warade from Berar; Jhade, inhabitants of the +forest or rice country; Telanga, of the Telugu country; Dakshne, from +the Deccan; Marwari, from Marwar, and so on. Other subcastes are the +Ahir and Jain Guraos, of whom the former are apparently Ahirs who +have adopted the priestly profession, while the Jain Guraos are held +in Bombay to be the descendants of Jain temple servants who entered +the caste when their own deities were thrown out and their shrines +annexed by the votaries of Siva. [134] In Bombay, Mr. Enthoven states +"That the Koli and Maratha ministrants at the temples of Siva and +other deities often describe themselves as Guraos, but they have +not formed themselves into separate castes and are members of the +general Koli or Maratha community. They cease to call themselves +Guraos when they cease to minister at temples." [135] In the Central +Provinces one of the subcastes is known as Vajantri because they act +as village musicians. The caste have no regular exogamous sections, +but a number of surnames which answer the same purpose. These are of +a professional type, as Lokhandes, an iron-dealer; Phulzares, a maker +of fireworks; Sontake, a gold-merchant; Gaikwad, a cowherd; Nakade, +long-nosed, and so on. They say they all belong to the same gotra, +Sankhiayan, named after Sankhiaya Rishi, the ancestor of the caste. + + + + +3. Marriage and ceremonies of adolescence. + +Marriage is avoided between persons having the same surname and +those within six degrees of descent from a common ancestor whether +male or female. The marriage ceremony generally resembles that of +the Brahmans. Before the wedding the bridegroom's father prepares an +image of Siva from rice and til-seed, [136] covers it with a cloth and +sends it to the bride's house. In return her mother prepares and sends +back a similar image of Gauri, Siva's consort. Girls are married as +infants, and when a woman arrives at adolescence the following ritual +is observed: She goes to her husband's house and is there secluded for +three or four days while her impurity lasts. On its termination she is +bathed and clothed in a green dress and yellow choli or breast-cloth, +and seated in a gaily decked wooden frame. Her lap is filled with wheat +and a cocoanut, and her female friends and relatives and father and +father-in-law give her presents of sweets and clothes. This is known +as the Shantik ceremony and is practised by the higher castes in the +Maratha country. It may continue for as long as sixteen days. Finally, +on an auspicious day the bride and bridegroom are given delicate food +and dressed in new clothes. The fire sacrifice is offered and they +are taken into a room where a bed, the gift of the bride's parents, +has been prepared for them, and left to consummate the marriage. This +is known as Garbhadhan. Next day the bride's parents give new clothes +and a feast to the bridegroom's family; this feast is known as Godai, +and after giving it the bride's parents may eat at their daughter's +house. A girl seduced by a man of the caste may be properly married +to him after her parents have performed Prayaschit or atonement. But +if she has a child out of wedlock, he is relegated to the Vidur or +illegitimate group. Even if a girl be seduced by a stranger, provided +he be of higher or equal caste, as the Kunbis and Marathas, she may +be taken back into the community. + + + + +4. Birth customs. + +If a child is born at an unlucky season, they take two winnowing-fans +and tie the baby between them with a thread wound many times round +about. A cow is brought and made to lick the child, which is thus +supposed to have been born again from it as a calf, the evil omen of +the first birth being removed. The father performs the fire sacrifice, +and a human figure is made from cooked rice and worshipped. A +burning wick is placed in its stomach and it is taken out and left +at cross-roads, this being probably a substitute for the member of +the family whose death was presaged by the untimely birth of the +child. Similarly if any one dies at the astronomical period known as +Panchak, they make five figures of wheat-flour and burn or bury them +with the body, as it is thought that otherwise five members of the +family would die. + + + + +5. The sacred thread. + +Boys are invested with the sacred thread at the age of five, seven or +nine years, and until that time they are considered to be Sudras and +not members of the caste. From a hundred to three hundred rupees may +be spent on the investiture. On the day before the ceremony a Brahman +and his wife are invited to take food, and a yellow thread with a +mango leaf is tied round the boy's wrist. The spirits of other boys +who died before their thread ceremony was performed and of women of +the family who died before their husbands are invited to attend. These +are represented by young boys and married women of other families who +come to the house and are bathed and anointed with turmeric and oil, +and given presents of sugar and new clothes. Next day the initiate +is seated on a platform in a shed erected for the purpose and puts on +the sacred thread made of cotton and also a strip of the skin of the +black-buck with a silk apron and cap. The boy's father takes him on +his lap and whispers or, as the Hindus say, blows the Gayatri mantra +or sacred text into his ear. A sacrifice is performed, and the friends +and fellow-castemen of the family make presents to the boy of copper +and silver coin. The amount thus given is not used by the parents, +but is spent on the boy's education or on the purchase of an ornament +for him. On the conclusion of the ceremony the boy mounts a wooden +model of a horse and pretends to set out for Benares. His paternal +uncle then says to him, 'Why are you going away?' And the boy replies, +'Because you have not married me.' His uncle then promises to find +a bride for him and he gives up his project. The part played by the +maternal uncle in this ceremony is probably a survival of the period +of the matriarchate, when a man's property descended to his sister's +son. He would thus naturally claim the boy as a husband for his own +daughter, and such a marriage apparently became customary and in +course of time acquired binding force. And although all recollection +of the rule of inheritance through women has long been forgotten, +the marriage of a brother's daughter to a sister's son is still +considered peculiarly suitable, and the idea that it is the duty +of the maternal uncle to find a bride for his nephew appears to be +simply a development of this. The above account also gives reason for +supposing that the investiture with the sacred thread was originally +a ceremony of puberty. + + + + +6. Funeral customs. + +The dead are burnt and the ashes thrown into water or carried to the +Ganges. A small piece of gold, two or three small pearls, and some +basil leaves are put into the mouth, and flowers, red powder and +betel leaves are spread over the corpse. The son or male heir of the +deceased walks in front carrying fire in an earthen pot. At a small +distance from the burning-ground, when the bearers change places, +he picks up a stone, known as the life-stone or jivkhada. This is +afterwards buried at the burning-ghat until the priest comes to effect +the purification of the mourners on the tenth day. It is then dug up, +set up and worshipped, and thrown into a well. A man is burnt naked; +a woman in a robe and bodice. The heads of widows are not shaved +as a rule, but on the tenth day after her husband's death a widow +is asked whether she would like her head shaved; if she refuses, +the people conclude that she intends to marry again. But if the +deceased left no male heir to carry behind his bier the burning wood +with which the funeral pyre is to be kindled, then the widow must be +shaved before the funeral starts and perform this duty. If there is +no male relative and no widow, the pot containing fire is tied to the +bier. When the corpse of a woman who has died in child-bed is being +carried to the burning-ground various rites are observed to prevent +her spirit from becoming a Churel and troubling the living. A lemon +charmed by a magician is buried under the corpse and a man follows +the body strewing the seeds of rala, while nails are driven into the +threshold of the house. [137] + + + + +7. Social position. + +The caste has now a fairly high social status and ranks above the +Kunbis. They abstain from all flesh and from liquor and will take +food only from the hands of a Maratha Brahman, while Kunbis and other +cultivating and serving castes will accept food from their hands. They +worship Siva principally on Mondays, this day being sacred to the +deity, who carries the moon as an ornament on his head, crowning the +matted locks from which the Ganges flows. + + + + +8. The Jain Guraos. + +Of the Jain Guraos Mr. Enthoven quotes the following interesting +description from the Bombay Gazetteer: "They are mainly servants in +village temples which, though dedicated to Brahmanic gods, have still +by their sides broken remains of Jain images. This, and the fact +that most of the temple land-grants date from a time when Jainism +was the State religion, support the theory that the Jain Guraos are +probably Jain temple servants who have come under the influence partly +of Lingayatism and partly of Brahmanism. A curious survival of their +Jainism occurs at Dasahra, Shimga and other leading festivals, when the +village deity is taken out of the temple and carried in procession. On +these occasions, in front of the village god's palanquin, three, five +or seven of the villagers, among whom the Gurao is always the leader, +carry each a long, gaily-painted wooden pole resting against their +right shoulder. At the top of the pole is fastened a silver mask +or hand and round it is draped a rich silk robe. Of these poles, +the chief one, carried by the Gurao, is called the Jain's pillar, +Jainacha khamb." + + + + + + +HALBA + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Traditions of the caste. + 2. Halba landowners in Bastar and Bhandara. + 3. Internal structure. Subcastes. + 4. Exogamous sections. + 5. Theory of the origin of the caste. + 6. Marriage. + 7. Importance of the sister's son. + 8. The wedding ceremony. + 9. Going-away ceremony. + 10. Widow-marriage and divorce. + 11. Religion. + 12. Disposal of the dead. + 13. Propitiating the spirits of those who have died a violent + death. + 14. Impurity of women. + 15. Childbirth. + 16. Names. + 17. Social status. + 18. Caste panchayat. + 19. Dress. + 20. Tattooing. + 21. Occupation. + + + + +1. Traditions of the caste. + +Halba, Halbi. [138]--A caste of cultivators and farmservants whose +home is the south of the Raipur District and the Kanker and Bastar +States; from here small numbers of them have spread to Bhandara and +parts of Berar. In 1911 they numbered 100,000 persons in the combined +Provinces. The Halbas have several stories relating to their own +origin. One of these, reported by Mr. Gokul Prasad, is as follows: +One of the Uriya Rajas had erected four scarecrows in his field to +keep off the birds. One night Mahadeo and Parvati were walking on the +earth and happened to pass that way, and Parvati saw them and asked +what they were. When it was explained to her she thought that as they +had excited her interest something should be done for them, and at +her request Mahadeo gave them life and they became two men and two +women. Next morning they presented themselves before the Raja and told +him what had happened. The Raja said, "Since you have come on earth, +you must have a caste. Run after Mahadeo and find out what caste you +should belong to." So they ran after the god and inquired of him, +and he said that as they had excited his and Parvati's attention +by waving in the wind they should be called Halba, from halna, to +wave. This story is clearly based on one of those fanciful punning +derivations so dear to the Brahmanical mind, but the legend about being +created from scarecrows is found among other agricultural castes of +non-Aryan origin, as the Lodhis. The story continues that the reason +why the Halbas came to settle in Bastar and Kanker was that they had +accompanied one of the Rajas of Jagannath in Orissa, who was afflicted +with leprosy, to the Sihawa jungles, where he proposed to pass the +rest of his life in retirement. On a certain day the Raja went out +hunting with his dogs, one of which was quite white. This dog jumped +into a spring of water and came out with his white skin changed to +copper red. The Raja, observing this miracle, bathed in the spring +himself and was cured of his leprosy. He then wished to return to +Orissa, but the Halbas induced him to remain in his adopted country, +and he became the ancestor of the Rajas of Kanker. The Halbas are +still the household servants of the Kanker family, and when a fresh +chief succeeds, one of them, who has the title of Kapardar, takes +him to the temple and invests him with the Durbar ki poshak or royal +robes, affixing also the tika or badge of office on his forehead with +turmeric, rice and sandalwood, and rubbing his body over with ottar of +roses. Until lately the Kapardar's family had a considerable grant of +rent-free land, but this has now been taken away. A Halba is or was +also the priest of the temple at Sihawa, which is said to have been +built by the first Raja over the spring where he was healed of his +leprosy. The Halbas are also connected with the Rajas of Bastar, and +a suggestion has been made [139] that they originally belonged to the +Telugu country and came with the Rajas of Bastar from Warangal in the +Deccan. Mr. Gilder derives the name from an old Canarese word Halbar or +Halbaru, meaning 'old ones or ancients' or 'primitive inhabitants.' The +Halba dialect, however, contains no traces of Canarese, and on the +question of their entering Bastar with the Rajas, Rai Bahadur Panda +Baijnath, Diwan of Bastar, writes as follows: In the following saying +relating to the coming of the Bastar Rajas, which is often repeated, +the Halba's name does not occur: + + + Chalkibans Raja Dibdibi baja. + Kosaria Rawat Pita Bhatra. + Peng Parja Raja Muria. + Tendukhuti Pania lava. + + +Which may be rendered: "The Raja was of the Chalki race. [140] The drum +was called Dibdibi. Kosaria Rawat, Pita Bhatra, Peng Parja and Raja +Muria, [141] these four castes came with the Raja. The tribute paid +(to the Raja) was a comb of tendu wood and a lava quail." This doggerel +rhyme is believed to recall the circumstances of the immigration of +the Bastar Rajas. So the Halbas did not perhaps come with the Raja, +but they were his guards for a long time. In the Dasahra ceremony a +Halba carried the royal Chhatra or Umbrella, and the Raja walked under +the protection of another Halba's naked sword. A Halba's widows were +not sold and his intestate property was not taken over by the Raja. + + + + +2. Halba landowners in Bastar and Bhandara. + +Thus the Halbas occupy a comparatively honourable position in +Bastar. They are the highest local caste with the exception of the +Brahmans, the Dhakars or illegitimate descendants of Brahmans, and +a few Rajput families. The reason for this is no doubt that they +have become landholders in the State, a position which it would +not be difficult for them to acquire when their only rivals were +the Gonds. They are moderately good cultivators, and in Dhamtari +can hold their own with Hindus, so that they could well surpass +the Gond. Traditions also remain in Bastar of a Halba revolt. It +is said that during Raja Daryao Deo's reign, about 125 years back, +the Halbas rebelled and many were thrown down a waterfall ninety feet +high, one only of these escaping with his life. The eyes of some were +also put out as a punishment for the oppression they had exercised, +and a stone inscription at Donger records the oath of fealty taken +by the Halbas before the image of Danteshwari, the tutelary deity +of Bastar, after their insurrection was put down in Samvat 1836 or +A.D. 1779. The Halbas were thus a caste of considerable influence, +since they could attempt to subvert the ruling dynasty. In Bhandara +again the caste have quite a different story, and say that they came +from the United Provinces or, according to another version, the Makrai +State, where they were of the status of Rajputs and wore the sacred +thread. There a girl of their family, of great beauty, was asked in +marriage by a Muhammadan king. The father could not refuse the king, +but would not give his daughter in marriage to one not of his own +caste. So he fled south and took asylum with the Gond Raja of Chanda, +from whom the Halba zamindars subsequently received their estates. It +seems unnecessary to attach any importance to this story; the tale of +the beautiful daughter is most hackneyed, and the whole has probably +been devised by the Brahmans to give the Halba zamindars of Bhandara a +more respectable ancestry than they could claim if they admitted having +come from Bastar, certainly no home of Rajputs. But if this supposition +is correct it is interesting to note how a legend may show a caste +as originating in some place with which it never had any connection +whatever; and it seems a necessary conclusion that no importance can +be attached to such traditions without corroborating evidence. + + + + +3. Internal structure: subcastes. + +The caste have local divisions known as Bastarha, Chhattisgarhia +and Marethia, according as they live in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, +or Bhandara and the other Maratha Districts. The last two groups, +however, intermarry, so only the Bastar Halbas really form a separate +subcaste. But the caste is also everywhere divided into two groups of +pure and mixed Halbas. These are known in Bastar and Chhattisgarh as +Purait or Nekha, and Surait or Nayak, respectively, and in Bhandara as +Barpangat and Khalpangat or those of good and bad stock. The Suraits +or Khalpangats are said to be of mixed origin, born from Halba fathers +and women of other castes. But in past times unions of Halba mothers +and men of other castes were perhaps not less frequent. These two +sets of groups do not intermarry. A Surait Halba will take food from +a Purait, but the Puraits do not return the compliment; though in some +localities they will accept food which does not contain salt. The two +divisions will take water from each other and exchange leaf-pipes. In +Bhandara the Barpangat or pure Halbas have now further split into +two groups, the zamindari families having constituted themselves +into a separate subdivision; they practise hypergamy with the others, +taking daughters from them in marriage but not giving their daughters +to them. This is simply of a piece with their claim to be Rajputs, +hypergamy being a custom of northern India. + + + + +4. Exogamous sections. + +The exogamous sections of the caste afford further evidence of their +mixed origin. Many of the names recorded are those of other castes, +as Baretha (a washerman), Bhoyar (Bhoi or bearer), Rawat (herdsman), +Barhai (carpenter), Malia (Mali or gardener), Dhakar (Vidur or +illegitimate Brahman), Bhandari (barber), Pardhan (Gond), Mankar +(title of various tribes), Sahara (Saonr), Kanderi (turner), Agri +(Agarwala Bania), Baghel (a sept of Rajputs), Elmia (from Velama, +Telugu cultivators), and Chalki and Ponwar (Chalukya and Panwar +Rajputs). It may be concluded that these groups are descended from +ancestors of the caste after which they are named. There are also a +number of territorial and titular names of the usual type, and many +totemistic names, as Ghorapatia (a horse), Kawaliha (lotus), Aurila +(tamarind), Lendia (a tree), Gohi (a lizard), Manjur (a peacock), +Bhringraj (a blackbird) and so on. In Bastar they revere the animal +or plant after which their sept is named and will not kill or injure +it. If a man accidentally kills his devak or sacred animal he will +tear off a small piece of his cloth and throw it away to make a shroud +for the corpse. A few of them will break their earthen pots as if a +relative had died in their house, but this is not general. In Bastar +the totemistic groups are named barags, and many men also belong to a +thok, having some titular name which they use as a surname. Nowadays +marriage is avoided by persons having the same thok or surname as +well as between those of the same barag. + + + + +5. Theory of the origin of the caste. + +In view of the information available the most probable theory of +the origin of the Halbas is that they were a mixed caste, born of +irregular alliances between the Uriya Rajas and their retainers with +the women of their household servants and between the different +servants themselves. Mr. Gokul Prasad points out that many of the +names of Halba sections are those of the haguas or household menials +of the Uriya chiefs. The Halbas, according to their own story, came +here in attendance on one of the chiefs, and are still employed as +household servants in Kanker and Bastar. They are clearly a caste +of mixed origin as they still admit women of other castes married +by Halba men into the community, and one of their two subcastes in +each locality consists of families of impure descent. The Dhakars of +Bastar are the illegitimate offspring of Brahmans with women of the +country who have grown into a caste, and Mr. Panda Baijnath quotes a +proverb, saying that 'The Halbas and Dhakars form two portions of a +bedsheet.' Instances of other castes similarly formed are the Audhelias +of Bilaspur, who are said to be the offspring of Daharia Rajputs +by their kept women, and the Bargahs, descended from the nurses of +Rajput families. The name Halba might be derived from hal, a plough, +and be a variant for harwaha, the common term for a farmservant in +the northern Districts. This derivation they give themselves in one +of their stories, saying that their first ancestor was created from +a sod of earth on the plough of Balaram or Haladhara, the brother of +Krishna; and it has also the support of Sir G. Grierson. The caste +includes no doubt a number of Gonds, Rawats (herdsmen) and others, +and it may be partly occupational, consisting of persons employed as +farmservants by the Hindu settlers. The farmservant in Chhattisgarh +has a very definite position, his engagement being permanent and +his wages consisting always in a fourth share of the produce, which +is divided among them when several are employed. The caste have +a peculiar dialect of their own, which Dr. Grierson describes as +follows: [142] "Linguistic evidence also points to the fact that the +Halbas are an aboriginal tribe, who have adopted Hinduism and an Aryan +language. Their dialect is a curious mixture of Uriya, Chhattisgarhi +and Marathi, the proportions varying according to the locality. In +Bhandara it is nearly all Marathi, but in Bastar it is much more mixed +and has some forms which look like Telugu." If the home of the Halbas +was in the debateable land between Chhattisgarh and the Uriya country +to the east and south of the Mahanadi, their dialect might, as Mr. Hira +Lal points out, have originated here. They themselves give the ruined +but once important city of Sihawa on the banks of the Mahanadi in this +tract as that of their first settlement; and Uriya is spoken to the +east of Sihawa and Marathi to the west, while Chhattisgarhi is the +language of the locality itself and of the country extending north +and south. Subsequently the Halbas served as soldiers in the armies of +the Ratanpur kings and their position no doubt considerably improved, +so that in Bastar they became an important landholding caste. Some +of these soldiers may have migrated west and taken service under the +Gond kings of Chanda, and their descendants may now be represented +by the Bhandara zamindars, who, however, if this theory be correct, +have entirely forgotten their origin. Others took up weaving and have +become amalgamated with the Koshti caste in Bhandara and Berar. + + + + +6. Marriage. + +Girls are not usually married until they are above ten years old, +or nearly adult as age goes in India; but there is no rule on +the subject. Many girls reach twenty without entering wedlock. If +the parents are too poor to pay for their daughter's marriage the +neighbours will subscribe. In Bastar, however, the Uriya custom +prevails, and an unmarried girl in whom the signs of puberty appear +is put out of caste. In such a case her father marries her to a +mahua tree. The strictness of the rule on this subject among the +Uriyas is probably due to the strength of Brahmanical influence, +the priestly caste possessing more power and property in Sambalpur +and Orissa than in almost any part of India. If a death occurs in the +family of the bridegroom just before the date fixed for the wedding, +and the ceremonies of purification cannot be completed prior to it, +the bride is formally wedded to an achar [143] or mahua tree; [144] +the marriage crown is tied on to the tree, and the bride walks round +it seven times. After the bridegroom's purification the couple are +taken to the same tree, and here the forehead of the bridegroom is +marked with turmeric paste and rice. The couple sit one on each side +of the tree, and the Tikawan ceremony or presentation of gifts by the +relatives and friends is performed, and the marriage is considered to +be complete. If an unmarried girl goes wrong with an outsider of low +caste she is expelled from the community; but if with a member of a +caste from whom a Halba can take water she may be readmitted to caste, +provided she has not eaten food cooked in an earthen pot from the hands +of her seducer; but not if she has done so. If there be a child of +the seducer she must wait until it be weaned and either taken by the +putative father or given away to a Chamar or Gond. The girl can then +be given in marriage to any Halba as a widow. Women of other castes +married by Halbas are admitted into the community. This happens most +frequently in the case of women of the Rawat (herdsman) caste. + + + + +7. Importance of the sister's son. + +A match which is commonly arranged where practicable is that of +a brother's daughter to a sister's son. And a man always shows +a special regard and respect for his sister's son, touching his +feet as to a superior, while, whenever he desires to make a gift +as an offering of thanks or atonement or as a meritorious action, +the sister's son is the recipient. At his death he usually leaves a +substantial legacy, such as one or two buffaloes, to his sister's son, +the remainder of the property going to his own family. This recognition +of a special relationship is probably a survival of the matriarchate, +when property descended through women, and a sister's son would be his +uncle's heir. Thus a man would naturally desire to marry his daughter +to his nephew in order that she might participate in his property, +and hence arose the custom of making this match, which is still the +most favoured among the Halbas and Gonds, though the reasons which +led to it have been forgotten for several centuries. + + + + +8. The wedding ceremony. + +Matches are usually arranged on the initiative of the boy's father +through a mutual friend who resides in the girl's village, and is +known as the Mahalia or matchmaker. When the contract is concluded +the boy's father sends a present of fixed quantities of grain to the +girl, which are in the nature of a bride-price, and subsequently on +an auspicious day selected by the family priest he and his friends +proceed to the girl's village. The girl meets them, standing at +the entrance of the principal house, dressed in the new clothes +sent on behalf of the bridegroom, and holding out her cloth for the +reception of presents. The boy's father goes up to her and smooths +her hair with his hand, chucks her under the chin with his right +hand, and makes a noise with his lips as if he were kissing her. He +then touches her feet, places a rupee on the skirt of her cloth, and +retires. The other members of his party follow his example, giving +small presents of copper, and afterwards the women of the girl's party +treat the bridegroom in the same manner, but they actually kiss him +(chumna). Betrothals can be held only in the five months from Magh +(January) to Jeth (May), while marriages may be celebrated during +the eight dry months. The auspicious date is selected by the Joshi +or caste-priest, who is chosen by the community for his personal +qualities. If the names of the couple do not point to an auspicious +union the bridegroom's name may be changed either temporarily or +permanently. The Joshi takes two pieces of cloth, which should be +torn from the scarf of the boy's father, and ties up in each of them +some rice, areca nuts, turmeric and dub grass (Cynodon dactylon). One +of these is marked with red lead, and is intended for the bride, +and the other, which is left plain, is for the bridegroom. At the +wedding some of this rice with pulse is placed with a twig of mahua +in a hole in the marriage-shed and addressed: 'You are the goddess +Lachhmi; you have come to assist in the marriage.' + +The Halbas, like the other lower castes of Chhattisgarh, have two +forms of wedding, known as the 'Small' and 'Large,' the former being +held at the bridegroom's house with curtailed ceremonies, and being +much cheaper than the latter or Hindu marriage proper, which is held +at the bride's house. The 'small' wedding is more popular among the +Halbas, and for this the bride, accompanied by some of her girl and +boy friends, arrives at the bridegroom's village in the evening, +her parents following her only on the third day. On entering the +lands of the village her party begin singing obscene songs filled +with abuse of the bridegroom's parents and relatives. Nobody goes +to receive or welcome them, and on reaching the bridegroom's house +they enter it without ceremony and sit down in the room where the +family gods are kept. All this time they continue singing, and the +musicians keep up a deafening din in accompaniment. Subsequently the +bride's party are shown to their lodging, known as the Dulhi-kuria or +bride's apartments, and here the bridegroom's father visits her and +washes her big toes first with milk and then with water. The practice +of washing the feet of guests, which strikes strangely on our minds +when we meet it in Scripture, was obviously a welcome attention when +travellers went bare-footed, or at most wore sandals, and arrived at +their journey's end with the feet soiled and bruised by the rigours +of the way. Another of the bridegroom's friends pretends to act as +a barber, and shaves all the bride's men friends with a piece of +straw as if it were a razor. For the marriage ceremony proper the +bride and bridegroom stand facing each other by the marriage hut +with a sheet held between them; the Joshi or caste-priest takes two +lamps and mingles their flames, and the cloth between the couple +being pulled down the bridegroom drags the bride over to him. If +the wedding is held on a Sunday, Tuesday or Saturday the bridegroom +stands facing the east, and if on a Monday, Thursday or Friday, to +the north. After this the cloths of the couple are tied together, or +the end of the bridegroom's scarf is tucked in the bride's waistcloth, +and they go round the marriage-post seven times, the bride following +the bridegroom throughout. A plough-yoke is then brought and placed +close by the marriage-post and the couple take their seats on it, +the bride sitting on the left of the bridegroom. The bundles of rice +consecrated by the Joshi are given to them and they throw it over each +other. The bridegroom takes some red lead and smears the bride's face +with it, making a line from the end of her nose up across her forehead +and along the parting of her hair. He says her name aloud and covers +her head with her cloth. This signifies that she is a married woman, +as in Chhattisgarh unmarried girls go about with the head bare. After +this the mother and father of the bride come and wash the feet of +the couple with milk and water. This ceremony is known as Dharam +Tika, and after its completion the bride's parents will take food +in the bridegroom's house, which they abstain from doing from the +date of the betrothal up to this washing of the feet. It is on this +account that they do not accompany the bride but only follow her on +the third day, but the reason for the rule is by no means clear. On +the following day more ceremonies are performed, and the friends +of the couple touch their foreheads with rice and make presents to +them of cowries. Last of all the bride's parents come and give them +cattle and other articles according to their means. These gifts are +known as Tikawan and remain the separate property of the bride which +she can dispose of as she pleases. The ceremonies usually extend +over four days, the wedding itself taking place on the third. The +bride's party then go home, leaving her with her husband, and after a +week or so they return and take the couple to the bride's house for +the ceremony known as Pinar Dhawai or getting their yellow wedding +clothes washed. The bridegroom stays here two or three weeks, and +during this time he must work at building or repairing the walls of +his father-in-law's house. The custom of serving for a wife still +obtains among the Halbas, and the above rule may perhaps indicate +that it was once more general. At the end of the bridegroom's visit +his father-in-law gives him a new cloth and pair of shoes and sends +him back to his parents' house with his wife. The expenses of the +wedding average about fifty rupees for the bridegroom's family and +from five to thirty rupees for the bride's family. + + + + +9. Going-away ceremony. + +After the wedding if the bride is grown up she lives with her husband +at once; but if she is a child she goes back to her parents until +her adolescence, when the ceremony of Pathoni or 'Going away' is +performed. On this occasion some people from the bridegroom's home +go to fetch her and their number must be even, so that when she +returns with them the party may be an odd one, which is lucky. They +take a new cloth for the bride and stay the night at her house; next +morning the bride's parents put some rice, pulse, oil and a comb in +a basket for her, and she sets out with the party, wearing her new +cloth. But when she gets outside the village this is taken off her +and placed in the basket, which she has to carry on her head as far +as her husband's house. As she enters his village the people stretch +a rope across the way and prevent her passage until her father-in-law +gives them a present. On arriving at his house her feet are washed +by her mother-in-law, and she is then made to cook the food brought +in her basket. After a fortnight she again goes back to her parents' +house and stays with them for another year, before finally taking up +her abode with her husband. It has been remarked that this return of +a married woman to her parents' house for such lengthened periods is +likely to be a pregnant source of immorality, and the advantage of the +custom has been questioned; the explanation may perhaps be that it is +an outcome of the joint family system by which young married couples +live with the bridegroom's parents, and that the object is to accustom +the girl gradually to the habits of a fresh household and the yoke, +necessarily irksome, of her mother-in-law. The proverb with reference +to a young wife, 'If your husband loves you your mother-in-law can +do nothing,' indicates how formidable this may be in the event of +any cooling of marital affection; and it is well known that if she +does not please her husband's family a young wife may be treated as +little better than a slave. To throw a young girl, therefore, into +a family of complete strangers is probably too severe a trial, and +this is the reason of the goings and returnings of the bride after +her wedding between her husband's home and her own. + + + + +10. Widow-marriage and divorce. + +The remarriage of a widow must be held during the bright fortnight +of the month, and on any odd day of the fortnight excluding the +first. The couple are seated together on a yoke in a part of the +courtyard cleaned with cowdung, and their clothes are tied together, +while the husband rubs vermilion on his wife's hair. A bachelor should +not take a widow in marriage, and if he does so he must at the same +time also wed a maiden with the regular ceremony, as otherwise he +is likely after death to become a masaan or evil spirit. In order to +avoid this contingency a bachelor who espouses a widow in Kanker is +first wedded to a spear. Turmeric and oil are rubbed on his body and +on the spear, and he walks round it seven times. Divorce is freely +permitted in Chhattisgarh at the instance of either party and for +the most trivial reasons, as a mere allegation of disagreement; but +if a husband puts away his wife when she has not been unfaithful to +him he must give her something for her support. In some localities +no ceremony is performed at all, but a wife or husband who tires of +wedlock simply leaves the other as the case may be. In Bastar a wife +cannot divorce her husband. A divorced woman does not break her glass +bangles until she marries again, when new ones are given to her by +her second husband. + + + + +11. Religion. + +A large proportion of the Halbas of Chhattisgarh belong to the +Kabirpanthi sect. These are known as Kabirhas and abjure the +consumption of flesh and alcoholic liquor; while the others who +indulge in these articles are known as Sakatha or Sakta, that is, +a worshipper of Devi or Durga. These latter, however, also revere +all the village godlings of Chhattisgarh. + + + + +12. Disposal of the dead. + +The dead are always buried by the Kabirpanthis and usually by other +Halbas, cremation being reserved by the latter as a special mark +of respect for elders and heads of families. A dead body is wrapped +in a new white cloth and laid on an inverted cot. The Kabirpanthis +lay plantain leaves at the sides of the cot and over the body to +cover it. One of the mourners carries a burning cowdung cake with the +party. Before burial the thread which every male wears round his waist +is broken, the clothes are taken off the corpse and given to a sweeper, +and the body is wrapped in the shroud and laid in the grave, salt being +sprinkled under and over it. If the dead body should be touched by any +person of another caste, the deceased's family has to pay a fine or +give a penal caste-feast. After the interment the mourners bathe and +return to the deceased's house in their wet clothes. Before entering +it they wash their feet in water, which is kept for that purpose at +the door, and chew the leaves of the nim tree (Melia indica). They +smoke their chongis or leaf-pipes and console the deceased's family +and then return home, washing their feet again and changing their +clothes at their own houses. On the third day, known as Tij Nahan, +the male members of the family with the relatives and mourners walk +in Indian file to a river or tank, where they are all shaved by the +barber, the sons of the dead man or woman having the entire head +and face cleared of hair, while in the case of other relatives, the +scalp-lock and moustache may be left, and the mourning friends are +only shaved as on ordinary occasions. For his services the barber +receives a cow or a substantial cash present, which he divides with +the washerman. The latter subsequently washes all clothes worn at the +funeral and on this occasion. On the Akti festival, or commencement of +the agricultural year, libations of water and offerings of urad [145] +cakes are made to the spirits of ancestors. A feast is given to women +in honour of all departed female ancestors on the ninth day of the +Pitripaksh or mourning fortnight of Kunwar (September), and feasts +for male ancestors may be held on the same day of the fortnight +as that on which they died at any other time of the year. [146] +Such observances are practised only by the well-to-do. Nothing is +done for persons who die before their marriage or without children, +unless they trouble some member of the family and appear in a dream +to demand that these honours be paid to them. During an epidemic +of cholera all funeral and mourning ceremonies are suspended, and a +general purification of the village takes place on its conclusion. + + + + +13. Propitiating the spirits of those who have died a violent death. + +If a person has been killed by a tiger, the people go out, and if any +remains of the body are found, these are burnt on the spot. The Baiga +is then invoked to bring back the spirit of the deceased, a most +essential precaution as will shortly be seen. In order to do this +he suspends a copper ring on a long thread above a vessel of water +and then burns butter and sugar on the fire, muttering incantations, +while the people sing songs and call on the spirit of the dead man to +return. The thread swings to and fro, and at length the copper ring +falls into the pot, and this is taken as a sign that the spirit has +come and entered the vessel. The mouth of this is immediately covered +and it is buried or kept in some secure place. The people believe that +unless the dead man's spirit is secured it will accompany the tiger +and lure solitary travellers to destruction. This is done by calling +out and offering them tobacco to smoke, and when they proceed in the +direction of the voice the tiger springs out and kills them. And +they think that a tiger directed in this manner grows fiercer and +fiercer with every person whom it kills. When somebody has been +killed by a tiger the relatives will not even remove the ornaments +from the corpse, for they think that these would constitute a link +by which its spirit would cause the tiger to track them down. The +malevolence thus attributed to persons killed by tigers is explained +by their bitter wrath at having encountered such an untimely death +and consequent desire to entice others to the same. + + + + +14. Impurity of women. + +During the monthly period of menstruation women are spoken of as 'Mund +maili' or having the head dirty, and are considered to be impure for +four or five days, for which time they sleep on the ground and not on +cots. In Kanker they are secluded in a separate room, and forbidden +to cook or to touch the clothes or persons of other members of the +family. They must not walk on a ploughed field, nor will the men of +their family drive the plough or sow seed during the time of their +impurity. On the fifth day they wash their heads with earth and boil +their clothes in water mixed with wood ashes. Cloth stained with the +menstrual blood is usually buried underground; if it is burnt it is +supposed that the woman to whom it belonged will become barren, and +if a barren woman should swallow the ashes of the cloth the fertility +of its owner would be transferred to her. + + + + +15. Childbirth. + +When pregnant women experience longings for strange kinds of food, it +is believed that these really come from the child in the womb and must +be satisfied if its development is not to be retarded. Consequently +in the fifth month of a wife's first pregnancy, or shortly before +delivery, her mother takes to her various kinds of rich food and feeds +her with them. It is a common custom also for pregnant women, driven by +perverted appetite, to eat earth of a clayey texture, or the ordinary +black cotton soil, or dried clay scraped off the walls of houses, or +the ashes of burnt cowdung cakes. This is done by low-caste women in +most parts of the Province, and if carried to excess leads to severe +intestinal derangement which may prove fatal. A pregnant woman must +not cross a river or eat anything with a knife, and she must observe +various precautions against the machinations of witches. At the time +of delivery the woman sits on the ground and is attended by a midwife, +who may be a Chamar, Mahar or Ganda by caste. The navel cord is burnt +in the lying-in room, but the after-birth, known as Phul, is usually +buried in a rubbish pit outside the house. The portion of the cord +attached to the child's body is also burnt when it falls off, but +in the northern Districts it is preserved and used as a cure for the +child if it suffers from sore eyes. If a woman who has borne only girl +children can obtain the dried navel-string of a male child and swallow +it, they believe that she will have a son, and that the mother of the +boy will henceforth bear only daughters. This is the reason why the +cord is carefully secreted and not simply thrown away. In Bastar on +the sixth or naming day the female relatives and friends of the family +are invited to take food at the house. The father touches the feet of +the child with blades of dub grass (Cynodon dactylon) steeped first +in milk or melted butter, then in sandal-paste, and finally in water, +and each time passes the blade over his head as a mark of respect. The +blades of grass are afterwards thrown over the roof of the house, so +that they may not be trampled under foot. The women guests then bring +leaf-cups containing rice and a few copper coins, which they offer to +the mother, the younger ones bowing before her with a prayer that the +child may grow as old as the speaker. All the women kiss the child, +and the elder ones the mother also. The offerings of rice and coins +are taken by the midwife. + + + + +16. Names. + +The names of the Halbas are of the ordinary type found in Chhattisgarh, +but at present they often add the termination Sinha or Singh in +imitation of the Rajputs. Two names are sometimes given, one for +daily use and the other for comparison with that of the girl when the +marriage is to be arranged. As already seen, either the bride's or +bridegroom's name may be changed to make their union auspicious. When +a daughter-in-law comes into her husband's house she is usually not +called by her own name, but by some nickname or that of her home, +as Jabalpurwali, Raipurwali (she who comes from Jabalpur or Raipur), +and so on. Sometimes men of the caste are addressed by the name of +the clan or section and not by their own. A woman must not utter +the names of her husband, his parents or brothers, nor of the sons +of his elder brother and his sisters. But for these last as well as +for her own son-in-law she may invent fictitious names. These rules +she observes to show her respect for her husband's relatives. A child +must not be called by name at night, because if an owl hears the name +and repeats it the child will probably die. The owl is everywhere +regarded as a bird of the most evil omen. Its hoot is unlucky, and a +house in which its nest is built will be destroyed or deserted. If it +perches on the roof of a house and hoots, some one of the family will +probably fall ill, or if a member of the household is already ill, +he or she will probably die. + + + + +17. Social status. + +The social customs of the caste present some differences. In Bastar, +where they have a fairly high status, the Purait Halbas abstain from +liquor, though they will eat the flesh of clean animals and of the +wild pig. The Halbas of Raipur on the other hand, who are usually +farmservants, will eat fowls, pigs and rats, and abstain only from +beef and the leavings of others. In Bastar, Sunars, Kurmis and castes +of similar position will take water from the hands of a Halba, and +Kosaria Rawats will eat all kinds of food with them. In Chhattisgarh +the Halbas will accept water from Telis, Kahars and other like castes, +and will also allow any of them to become a Halba. In Chhattisgarh +they will take even food cooked with water from the hands of a man of +these castes, provided that they are not in their own villages. These +differences of custom are probably due to the varying social status of +the caste. In Bastar they hold land and behave accordingly, while in +Chhattisgarh they are only labourers. They do not employ Brahmans for +ceremonial purposes but have their own caste priest, known as Joshi, +while among the Kabirpanthis the local Mahant or Bairagi of the sect +takes his place. + + + + +18. Caste panchayat. + +They have a caste panchayat or committee, the headman of which is +known as Kursha; he has jurisdiction over ten or twenty villages, +and is usually chosen from the Kotwar, Chanap or Naik sections. It +is the duty of the men of these sections to scatter the sonpani or +'water of gold' [147] as an act of purification over persons who +have been temporarily put out of caste for social offences. They +are also the first to eat food with such offenders on readmission +to social intercourse, and thereby take the sins of these persons +upon their own heads. In order to counteract the effect of this the +purifier usually asks three or four other men to eat with him at his +own house, and passes on a part of his burden to them. For such duties +he receives a payment of money varying from four annas to a rupee and +a half. Among the offences punished with temporary exclusion from +caste are those of rearing the lac insect and tasar silk cocoons, +probably because such work involves the killing of the insects and +caterpillars which produce the dye and silk. In Bastar a man loses +his caste if he is beaten with a shoe except by a Government servant, +and is not readmitted to it. If a man seduces a married woman and +is beaten with a shoe by her husband he is also finally expelled +from caste. But happily, Mr. Panda Baijnath remarks, shoes are very +scarce in the State, and hence such cases do not often arise. They +never yoke cows to the plough as other castes do in Bastar, nor do +they tie up two cows with the same rope. + + + + +19. Dress. + +The dress of the Halbas, as of other Chhattisgarh castes, is scanty, +and most of them have only a short cloth about the loins and another +round the shoulders. They dispense with both shoes and head-cloth, +but every man must have a thread tied round his waist. To this thread +in former times, Colonel Dalton remarks, the apron of leaves was not +improbably suspended. The women do not wear nose-rings, spangles on the +forehead or rings on the toes; but girl children have the left nostril +pierced, and this must always be done on the full moon day of the month +of Pus (December). A copper ring is inserted in the nostril and worn +for a few months, but must be removed before the girl's marriage. A +married woman has a cloth over her head, and smears vermilion on +the parting of her hair and also on her forehead. An unmarried girl +may have the copper ring already mentioned, and may place a dab of +vermilion on her forehead, but must not smear it on the parting of +her hair. She goes bare-headed till marriage, as is the custom in +Chhattisgarh. A widow should not have vermilion on her face at all, +nor should she use glass bangles or ornaments about the ankles. She +may have a string of glass beads about her neck. A woman's cloth is +usually white with a broad red border all round it. The Gonds and +Halbas tie the cloth round the waist and carry the slack end from the +left side behind up the back and over the head and right shoulder; +while women of higher castes take the cloth from the right side over +the head and left shoulder. + + + + +20. Tattooing. + +Girls are tattooed before marriage, usually at the age of four or +five years, with dots on the left nostril and centre of the chin, and +three dots in a line on the right shoulder. A girl is again tattooed +after marriage, but before leaving for her husband's house. On this +occasion four pairs of parallel lines are made on the leg above the +ankle, in front, behind, and on the sides. As a rule, the legs are +not otherwise tattooed, nor the trunk of the body. Groups of dots, +triangles and lines are made on the arms, and on the left arm is +pricked a zigzag line known as the sikri or chain, the pattern of +which is distinctive. Teli and Gahra (Ahir) women also have the sikri, +but in a slightly different form. The tattooing is done by a woman of +the Dewar caste, and she receives some corn and the cloth worn by the +girl at the time of the operation. If a child is slow in learning to +walk they tattoo it on the loins above the hips, and believe that this +is efficacious. Men who suffer from rheumatism also get the affected +joints tattooed, and are said to experience much relief. The tattooing +acts no doubt as a blister, and may produce a temporarily beneficial +effect. It may be compared to the bee-sting cure for rheumatism now +advocated in England. Tattooing is believed to enhance the beauty of +women, and it is also said that the tattoo marks are the only ornament +which will accompany the soul to the other world. From this belief it +seems clear that they expect to have the same body in the after-life. + + + + +21. Occupation. + +Nearly all the Halbas are now engaged in agriculture as tenants and +labourers. Seven zamindari estates are held by members of the caste, +six in Bhandara and one in Chanda, and they also have some villages +in the south of the Raipur and Drug Districts. It is probable that +they obtained this property in reward for military service, at the +period when they were employed in the armies of the Ratanpur kings +and of the Gond dynasty of Chanda. In the forest tracts of Dhamtari +they are considered the best cultivators next to the Telis, and they +show themselves quite able to hold their own in the open country, +where their villages are usually prosperous. In Bastar they still +practise shifting cultivation, sowing their crops on burnt-out patches +of forest. Though hunting is not now one of their regular occupations, +Mr. Gokul Prasad describes them as catching game by the following +method: Six or seven men go out together at night, tying round their +feet ghunghunias or two small hollow balls of brass with stones inside +which tinkle as they move, such as are worn by postal runners. They +move in Indian file, the first man carrying a lantern and the others +walking behind him in its shadow. They walk with measured tread, +and the ghunghunias give out a rhythmical harmonious sound. Hares +and other small animals are attracted by the sound, and at the same +time half-blinded by the light, so that they do not see the line +of men. They approach, and are knocked over or caught by the men +following the leader. + + + + + + +Halwai + + +Halwai.--The occupational caste of confectioners, numbering about +3000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911. The Halwai +takes his name from halwa, a sweet made of flour, clarified butter +and sugar, coloured with saffron and flavoured with almonds, +raisins and pistachio-nuts. [148] The caste gives no account of +its origin in northern India, but it is clearly a functional group +composed of members of respectable middle-class castes who adopted the +profession of sweetmeat-making. The Halwais are also called Mithaihas, +or preparers of sweets, and in the Uriya country are known as Guria +from gur or unrefined sugar. The caste has several subdivisions with +territorial names, generally derived from places in northern India, +as Kanaujia from Kanauj, and Jaunpuria from Jaunpur; others are Kandu, +a grain-parcher, and Dobisya, meaning two score. One of the Guria +subdivisions is named Haldia from haldi, turmeric, and members of +this subcaste are employed to prepare the mahaprasad or cooked rice +which is served at the temple of Jagannath and which is eaten by all +castes together without scruple. The Gurias have exogamous divisions +or bargas, the names of which are generally functional, as Darban, +door-keeper; Saraf, treasurer; Bhitarya, one who looks to household +affairs, and others. Marriage within the barga is forbidden, but the +union of first cousins is not prohibited. Marriage may be infant or +adult. A girl who has a liaison with a man of the caste may be wedded +to him by the form used for the remarriage of a widow, but if she +goes wrong with an outsider she is finally expelled. Widow-marriage +is allowed, and divorce may be effected for misconduct on the part +of the wife. + +The social standing of the Halwai is respectable. "His art," says +Mr. Nesfield, [149] "implies rather an advanced state of culture, and +hence his rank in the social scale is a high one. There is no caste +in India which considers itself too pure to eat what a confectioner +has made. In marriage banquets it is he who supplies a large part of +the feast, and at all times and seasons the sweetmeat is a favourite +food to a Hindu requiring a temporary refreshment. There is a kind +of bread called puri, consisting of wheaten dough fried in melted +butter, which is taken as a substitute for the chapati or wheaten +pancake by travellers and others who happen to be unable to have +their bread cooked at their own fire, and is made by the Halwais." + +The real reason why the Halwai occupies a good position perhaps +simply results from the necessity that other castes should be able +to take cakes from him. Among the higher castes food cooked with +water should not be eaten except at the hearth after this has been +specially cleansed and spread with cowdung, and those who are to +eat have bathed and otherwise purified themselves. But as the need +continuously arises for travellers and others to take a meal abroad +where they cannot cook it for themselves, sweetmeats and cakes made +without water are permitted to be eaten in this way, and the Halwai, +as the purveyor of these, has been given the position of a pure caste +from whose hands a Brahman can take water. In a similar manner, water +may be taken from the hands of the Dhimar who is a household servant, +the Kahar or palanquin-bearer, the Barai or betel-leaf seller, and +the Bharbhunja or rice-parcher, although some of these castes have +a very low origin and occupy the humble position of menial servants. + +The Halwai's shop is one of the most familiar in an Indian bazar, +and in towns a whole row of them may be seen together, this +arrangement being doubtless adopted for the social convenience +of the caste-fellows, though it might be expected to decrease the +custom that they receive. His wares consist of trays full of white +and yellow-coloured sweetmeats and cakes of flour and sugar, very +unappetising to a European eye, though Hindu boys show no lack of +appreciation of them. The Hindus are very fond of sweet things, which +is perhaps a common trait of an uneducated palate. Hindu children +will say that such sweets as chocolate almonds are too bitter, and +their favourite drink, sherbet, is simply a mixture of sugar and +water with some flavouring, and seems scarcely calculated to quench +the thirst produced by an Indian hot weather. Similarly their tea is +so sweetened with sugar and spices as to be distasteful to a European. + +The ingredients of a Halwai's sweets are wheat and gram-flour, +milk and country sugar. Those called batashas consist merely of +syrup of sugar boiled with a little flour, which is taken out in +spoonfuls and allowed to cool. They are very easy to make and are +commonly distributed to schoolboys on any occasion of importance, +and are something like a meringue in composition. The kind called +barafi or ice is made from thick boiled milk mixed with sugar, and is +more expensive and considered more of a treat than batashas. Laddus +are made from gram-flour which is mixed with water and dropped into +boiling butter, when it hardens into lumps. These are taken out +and dipped in syrup of sugar and allowed to cool. Pheni is a thin +strip of dough of fine wheat-flour fried in butter and then dipped +in syrup of sugar. Other sweets are made from the flour of singara +or water-nut and from chironji, the kernel of the achar [150] nut, +coated with sugar. Of ordinary sweets the cheaper kinds cost 8 annas +a seer of 2 lb. and the more expensive ones 10 or 12 annas. Sweets +prepared by Bengali confectioners are considered the best of all. The +Halwai sits on a board in his shop surrounded by wooden trays of the +different kinds of sweets. These are often covered with crowds of flies +and in some places with a variety of formidable-looking hornets. The +latter do not appear to be vicious, however, and when he wishes to +take sweets off a tray the Halwai whisks them off with a palm-leaf +brush. Only if one of them gets into his cloth, or he unguardedly +pushes his hand down into a heap of sweets and encounters a hornet, +he may receive a sting of which the mark remains for some time. The +better-class confectioners now imitate English sweets, and at fairs +when they retail boiled grain and ghi they provide spoons and little +basins for their customers. + + + + + + +Hatkar + + +1. Derivation and historical notice. + +Hatkar, Hatgar. [151]--A small caste of Berar, numbering about 14,000 +persons in 1911. They are found principally in the Pusad taluk of +Yeotmal District, their villages being placed like a line of outposts +along the Hyderabad border. The Hatkars are a branch of the Dhangar +or shepherd caste, and in some localities they are considered as a +subcaste of Dhangars. The derivation of the name Hatkar is obscure, +but the Hatkars appear to be those Dhangars who first took to military +service under Sivaji and hence became a distinct group. "Undisciplined, +often unarmed, men of the Mawals or mountain valleys above the Ghauts +who were called Mawallees, and of those below the mountains towards the +sea, called Hetkurees, joined the young leader." [152] The Hatkars were +thus the soldiers of the Konkan in Sivaji's army. The Ain-i-Akbari +states that the Hatkars were driven westward across the Wardha by +the Gonds. At this time (A.D. 1600) they were holding the country +round Basim by force of arms, and are described as a refractory and +perfidious race. [153] "The Hatkars of Berar are all Bargi or Bangi +Dhangars, the shepherds with the spears. They say that formerly when +going on any expedition they took only a blanket seven cubits long and +a bear-spear. They would appear to have been all footmen. The Naiks +or village headman of Basim were principally Hatkars. The duty of a +Naik was to maintain order and stop robbery; but in time they became +law-breakers and their men the dacoits of the country. Some of them +were very powerful, and in 1818 Nowsaji Naik's troops gave battle to +the Nizam's regular forces under Major Pitman before Umarkhar. He +was beaten and sent to Hyderabad, where he died, and the power of +the Naiks was broken by Major Sutherland. He hanged so many that the +Naiks pronounce his name to this day with awe. To some of the Naiks he +gave money and told them to settle down in certain villages. Others +who also came, expecting money, were at once hanged." [154] But it +would appear that only those leaders were hanged who did not come in +before a certain fixed date. + + + + +2. The Gauli Hatkar's reverence for cattle. + +The Hatkars are also called Bangi Dhangars, and in Berar rank +above other Dhangars because they took to soldiering and obtained +grants of land, just as the Marathas rank above the Kunbis. Another +group have given up sheep-tending and keep cattle, which is a more +respectable occupation on account of the sanctity of cattle, and +these call themselves Gauli Hatkars. These Gauli Hatkars have given +up drinking liquor and eating fowls. They will not touch or sell the +milk of buffaloes and cows before sunset on Mondays, the day on which +they worship Krishna. If any one is in need of milk on that day they +will let him milk the animal himself, but will take no price for the +milk. On a Monday also they will not give fire from their house to +any member of a low caste, such as a Mahar. On the day of Diwali they +worship their cows, tying a bunch of wool to the animal's forehead and +putting rice on it; they make a mud image of Govardhan, the mountain +held up by Krishna as an umbrella to protect the people from the rain, +and then let the cows trample it to pieces with their hoofs. If a +bullock dies with the rope halter through its nose, the owner is +put out of caste; this rule also obtains among the Ahirs and Gaulis, +and is perhaps responsible for the objection felt in some localities +to putting string through the nostrils of plough- and cart-bullocks, +though it is the only means of obtaining any control over them. + + + + +3. Funeral rites. + +Formerly the Hatkars burned the corpses only of men who died in battle +or the chase or subsequently of their wounds, cremation being reserved +for this honourable end. Others were buried sitting cross-legged, +and a small piece of gold was placed in the mouth of the corpse. Now +they either burn or bury the dead according to their means. Most of +them at the time they were soldiers never allowed the hair on their +face to be cut. + + + + +4. Exogamous groups. + +The Hatkars of Berar are said to be divided into three exogamous +clans who apparently marry with each other, their names being Poli, +Gurdi and Muski. In the Central Provinces they have a set of exogamous +sections with titular names of a somewhat curious nature; among them +are Hakkya, said to be so called because their ancestor was absent +when his cow gave birth to a calf; Wakmar, one who left the Pangat +or caste feast while his fellows were eating; and Polya, one who did +not take off his turban at the feast. + + + + + + +Hijra + + +Hijra, Khasua. [155]--The class of eunuchs, who form a separate +community, recruited by the admission of persons born with this +deformity or reduced to the like condition by amputation. In Saugor +it is said that the Khasuas are natural and the Hijras artificial +eunuchs, and the Khasuas deny that they admit Hijras into their +society. They may be either Hindus or Muhammadans by birth, but all +become Muhammadans. Children born in the condition of eunuchs are +usually made over to the Khasuas by their parents. The caste are +beggars, and also sing and dance at weddings and at the births of +male children, and obtain presents of grain from the cultivators +at seedtime and harvest. They wear female clothes and ornaments and +assume the names of women. They are admitted to mosques, but have to +stand behind the women, and in Saugor they have their own mosque. They +observe Muhammadan rites and festivals generally, and are permitted +to smoke from the huqqas of other Muhammadans. They are governed by a +caste panchayat or committee, which imposes fines but does not expel +any member from the community. Each Khasua has a beat or locality +reserved to him for begging and no other may infringe on it, violations +of this rule being punished by the committee. Sometimes a well-to-do +Khasua adopts an orphan and celebrates the child's marriage with as +much expense and display as he can afford, and the Kazi officiates +at the ceremony. + +The Hijras form apparently a separate group, and the following +account of them is mainly taken from the Bombay Gazetteer. [156] +In Gujarat they are the emasculated male votaries of the goddess +Bouchera or Behechra, a sister of Devi. She is the spirit of a +martyred Charan or Bhat woman. Some Charan women were travelling +from Sulkhunpur in Gujarat when they were attacked and plundered by +Kolis. One of the women, of the name of Bouchera, snatched a sword +from a boy who attended her and with it cut off both her breasts. She +immediately perished, and was deified and worshipped as a form of +Devi in the Chunwal. [157] The Hijras usually mutilate themselves in +the performance of a religious vow, sometimes taken by the mother as +a means of obtaining children, and in rare cases by the boy himself +to obtain recovery by the favour of the goddess from a dangerous +illness. [158] Hence it is clear that they worship Boucheraji on +the ground that she obtained divine honours by self-mutilation and +should enable her votaries to do the same. But the real reason for +the Charan woman cutting off her breasts was no doubt that her ghost +might haunt and destroy the Koli robbers, in accordance with the +usual practice of the Charans. [159] As a further fulfilment of their +vow the Hijras pull out the hair of their beards and moustaches, +bore their ears and noses for female ornaments, and affect female +speech and manners. The meaning of the vow would appear to be that +the mother sacrifices her great blessing of a boy child and transforms +him after a fashion into a girl, at the same time devoting him to the +service of the goddess. Similarly, as a much milder form of the same +idea, a mother whose sons have died will sometimes bore the nose of a +later-born son and put a small nose-ring in it to make believe he is +a girl. But in this case the aim is also partly to cheat the goddess +or the evil spirits who cause the death of children, and make them +think the boy is a girl and therefore not worth taking. + +The rite of mutilation is described by Mr. Faridi as follows: "The +initiation takes place at the temple of the goddess Behechra about 60 +miles from Ahmadabad, where the neophyte repairs under the guardianship +or adoption of some older member of the brotherhood. The lad is called +the daughter of the old Hijra his guardian. The emasculation is a +secret rite and takes place under the direction of the chief Hijra +priest of Behechra. It is said that the operation and initiation +are held in a house with closed doors, where all the Hijras meet +in holiday dress. A special dish of fried pastry is cooked, and +the neophyte is bathed, dressed in red female attire, decked with +flower-garlands and seated on a stool in the middle of the room, +while the others sing to the accompaniment of a small drum and copper +cymbals. Another room is prepared for the operation, soft ashes being +spread on the floor and piled in a heap in the centre. When the time +for the operation approaches, the neophyte is led to the room and +is made to lie on his back on the ash-heap. The operator approaches +chewing betel-leaf. The hands and legs of the neophyte are firmly +held by some one of the fraternity, and the operator, carelessly +standing near with an unconcerned air, when he finds the attention +of his patient otherwise occupied, with great dexterity and with one +stroke completely cuts off the genital organs. He spits betel and +areca juice on the wound and staunches the bleeding with a handful +of the ashes of the babul. [160] The operation is dangerous and not +uncommonly fatal." Another method is to hold the organs in a cleft +bamboo and slice them off. The Hijras are beggars like the Khasuas, +and sometimes become very importunate. Soon after the birth of a +child in Gujarat the hated Hijras or eunuchs crowd round the house for +gifts. If the demand of one of them is refused the whole rank and file +of the local fraternity besiege the house with indecent clamour and +gesture. Their claim to alms rests, as with other religious mendicants, +in the sacred character which attaches to them. In Bombay there is +also a belief that the god Hanuman cries out once in twelve years, +and that those men who hear him are transformed into eunuchs. [161] +Some of them make money by allowing spectators to look at the mutilated +part of their body, and also by the practice of pederasty. + +Homosexual practices are believed to be distinctly rare among Hindus, +and not common among Muhammadans of the Central Provinces. For this the +early age of marriage may probably be considered a principal cause. The +Hindu sacred books, however, do not attach severe penalties to this +offence. "According to the Laws of Manu, a twice-born man who commits +an unnatural offence with a male, or has intercourse with a female in +a cart drawn by oxen, in water or in the daytime, shall bathe, dressed +in his clothes; and all these are reckoned as minor offences." [162] +In his Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas Dr. Westermarck shows +that, apart from the genuine cases of sexual perversion, as to the +frequency of which opinions differ, homosexual love frequently arises +in three conditions of society. These are, when women are actually +scarce, as among the Australian aborigines and other primitive races; +when the men are frequently engaged in war or in predatory expeditions +and are separated from their wives for long periods, a condition +which accounts for its prevalence among the Sikhs and Pathans; +and lastly, when women are secluded and uneducated and hence their +society affords little intellectual pleasure to men. This was the +case in ancient Greece where women received no education and had no +place at the public spectacles which were the chief means of culture; +[163] and the same reason probably accounts for the frequency of the +vice among the Persians and modern Egyptians. "So also it seems that +the ignorance and dulness of Muhammadan women, which is a result of +their total lack of education and their secluded life, is a cause of +homosexual practices; Moors are sometimes heard to defend pederasty +on the plea that the company of boys, who have always news to tell, +is so much more entertaining than the company of women." [164] + +The Christian Church in this as in other respects has set a very +high standard of sexual morality. Unnatural crimes were regarded with +peculiar horror in the Middle Ages, and the punishments for them in +English law were burying and burning alive, though these were probably +seldom or never enforced. [165] The attitude of the Church, which +was reflected in the civil law, was partly inherited from the Jews of +the Old Testament, and reinforced by similar conditions in mediaeval +society. In both cases this crime was especially associated with +the heathen and heretics, as shown in Dr. Westermarck's interesting +account: [166] + +"According to Genesis, unnatural vice was the sin of a people who +were not the Lord's people, and the Levitical legislation represents +Canaanitish abominations as the chief reason why the Canaanites +were exterminated. Now we know that sodomy entered as an element in +their religion. Besides kedeshoth, or female prostitutes, there were +kedeshim or male prostitutes, attached to their temples. The word +kadesh, translated 'Sodomite,' properly denotes a man dedicated +to a deity; and it appears that such men were consecrated to the +mother of the gods, the famous Dea Syria, whose priests or devotees +they were considered to be. The male devotees of this and other +goddesses were probably in a position analogous to that occupied +by the female devotees of certain gods, who also, as we have seen, +have developed into libertines; and the sodomitic acts committed with +these temple prostitutes may, like the connections with priestesses, +have had in view to transfer blessings to the worshippers. In Morocco +supernatural benefits are expected not only from heterosexual, but +also from homosexual intercourse with a holy person. The kedeshim are +frequently alluded to in the Old Testament, especially in the period +of the monarchy, when rites of foreign origin made their way into +both Israel and Judah. And it is natural that the Yahveh worshipper +should regard their practices with the utmost horror as forming part +of an idolatrous cult. + +"The Hebrew conception of homosexual love to some extent affected +Muhammadanism, and passed into Christianity. The notion that it +is a form of sacrilege was here strengthened by the habits of the +Gentiles. St. Paul found the abominations of Sodom prevalent among +nations who had 'changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped +and served the creature more than the creator.' During the Middle Ages +heretics were accused of unnatural vice as a matter of course. Indeed, +so closely was sodomy associated with heresy that the same name was +applied to both. In La Coutume de Touraine-Anjou the word hérite, +which is the ancient form of hérétique, seems to be used in the +sense of 'sodomite'; and the French bougre (from the Latin Bulgarus, +Bulgarian), as also its English synonym, was originally a name given +to a sect of heretics who came from Bulgaria in the eleventh century +and was afterwards applied to other heretics, but at the same time +it became the regular expression for a person guilty of unnatural +intercourse. In mediaeval laws sodomy was also repeatedly mentioned +together with heresy, and the punishment was the same for both. It +thus remained a religious offence of the first order. It was not only +a 'vitium nefandum et super omnia detestandum,' but it was one of +the four 'clamantia peccata,' or crying sins, a 'crime de Majestie, +vers le Roy celestre.' Very naturally, therefore, it has come to be +regarded with somewhat greater leniency by law and public opinion +in proportion as they have emancipated themselves from theological +doctrines. And the fresh light which the scientific study of the sexual +impulse has lately thrown upon the subject of homosexuality must also +necessarily influence the moral ideas relating to it, in so far as no +scrutinising judge can fail to take into account the pressure which +a powerful non-volitional desire exercises upon an agent's will." + + + + + + +Holia + + +Holia. [167]--A low caste of drummers and leather-workers who claim +to be degraded Golars or Telugu Ahirs, under which caste most of the +Holias seem to have returned themselves in 1901. [168] The Holias +relate the following story of their origin. Once upon a time two +brothers, Golar by caste, set out in search of service, having with +them a bullock. On the way the elder brother went to worship his +tutelary deity Holiari Deva; but while he was doing so the bullock +accidentally died, and the ceremony could not be proceeded with until +the carcase was removed. Neither a Chamar nor anybody else could +be got to do this, so at length the younger brother was prevailed +upon by the elder one to take away the body. When he returned, +the elder brother would not touch him, saying that he had lost his +caste. The younger brother resigned himself to his fate and called +himself Holu, after the god whom he had been worshipping at the time +he lost his caste. His descendants were named Holias. But he prayed +to the god to avenge him for the treachery of his brother, and from +that moment misfortunes commenced to shower upon the Golar until he +repented and made what reparation he could; and in memory of this, +whenever a Golar dies, the Holias are feasted by the other Golars to +the present day. The story indicates a connection between the castes, +and it is highly probable that the Holias are a degraded class of +Golars who took to the trade of tanning and leather-working. When +a Holia goes to a Golar's house he must be asked to come in and sit +down or the Golar will be put out of caste; and when a Golar dies the +house must be purified by a Holia. The caste is a very numerous one in +Madras. Here the Holia is superior only to the Madiga or Chamar. [169] +In the Central Provinces they are held to be impure and to rank below +the Mahars, and they live on the outskirts of the village. Their caste +customs resemble generally those of the Golars. They believe their +traditional occupation to be the playing of leathern drums, and they +still follow this trade, and also make slippers and leather thongs +for agricultural purposes. But they must not make or mend shoes on +pain of excommunication from caste. They are of middle stature, dark +in colour, and very dirty in their person and habits. Like the Golars, +the Holias speak a dialect of Canarese, which is known as Golari, Holia +or Komtau. Mr. Thurston gives the following interesting particulars +about the Holias: [170] "If a man of another caste enters the house +of a Mysore Holia, the owner takes care to tear the intruder's cloth, +and turn him out. This will avert any evil which might have befallen +him. It is said that Brahmans consider great luck will wait upon them +if they can manage to pass through a Holia village unmolested. Should +a Brahman attempt to enter their quarters, the Holias turn him out, +and slipper him, in former times it is said to death." + + + + + + +Injhwar + + +1. Origin of the caste. + +Injhwar. [171]--A caste of agricultural labourers and fishermen found +in the Maratha tract of the Wainganga Valley, comprised in the Bhandara +and Balaghat Districts. In 1901 they numbered 8500 persons as against +11,000 in 1891. The name Injhwar is simply a Marathi corruption of +Binjhwar, as is for bis (twenty) and Ithoba for Bithoba or Vithoba. In +his Census Report of 1891 Sir Benjamin Robertson remarked that the +name was often entered in the census books as Vinjhwar, and in Marathi +B and V are practically interchangeable. The Injhwars are thus a caste +formed from the Binjhwars or highest subdivision of the Baiga tribe of +Balaghat; they have adopted the social customs of the Marathi-speaking +people among whom they live, and have been formed into a separate caste +through a corruption of their name. They still worship Injha or Vindhya +Devi, the tutelary deity of the Vindhyan hills, from which the name of +the Binjhwars is derived. The Injhwars have also some connection with +the Gowari or cowherd caste of the Maratha country. They are sometimes +known as Dudh-Gowari, and say that this is because an Injhwar woman was +a wet-nurse of the first-born Gowari. The Gowaris themselves, as a low +caste of herdsmen frequenting the jungles, would naturally be brought +into close connection with both the Baigas and Gonds. Their alliances +with the Gonds have produced the distinct caste of Gond-Gowari, and +it is not improbable that one fact operating to separate the Injhwars +from their parent tribe of the Baigas was an admixture of Gowari +blood. But they rank higher than the Gond-Gowaris, who are regarded as +impure; this is probably on account of the superior position of the +Binjhwars, who form the aristocracy of the Baiga tribe, and, living +in the forests, were never reduced to the menial and servile condition +imposed on the Gond residents in Hindu villages. The Injhwars, however, +admit the superiority of the Gowaris by taking food from their hands, +a favour which the latter will not reciprocate. Several of the sept +or family names of the caste are also taken from the Gonds, and this +shows an admixture of Gond blood; the Injhwars are thus probably a +mixed group of Gonds, Gowaris, and Binjhwars or Baigas. + + + + +2. Subdivisions. + +The Injhwars have four subcastes, three of the territorial and one +of the occupational class. These are the Lanjiwar, or those living +round Lanji in Balaghat; the Korre, or those of the Korai hill tract +in Seoni; the Chandewar or Maratha Injhwars who belong to Chanda, and +are distinguished by holding their weddings only in the evening after +the Maratha custom, while other Injhwars will perform the ceremony at +any time of day; and the Sonjharias, or those who have taken to washing +for gold in the beds of streams. Of their sept or family names some, +as already stated, are taken from the Gonds, as Mesram, Tekam, Marai, +Ukya. [172] Three names, Bhoyar, Kawara and Kohrya (from Kohli), +are the names of other castes or tribes, and indicate that members +of these became Injhwars and founded families; and others are of the +territorial, titular and totemistic types. Among them may be mentioned +the Pithvalyas, from pith, flour; all families of this sept should +steal a little rice from somebody else's field as soon as it is ripe, +husband and wife making a joint expedition for the purpose. They +must not speak a word to each other from the time they start until +they have brought back the rice, pounded and cooked it, offered it +to the god and made their meal. The Paunpats, named after the lotus, +will not touch the flowers or leaves of the lotus plants, or even drink +water from a tank in which the lotus grows. The Dobokria Rawats are so +named because they make an offering of two goats to their gods. Some of +the septs are subdivided. Thus the Sonwani or gold-water sept, whose +members readmit social culprits, is divided into the Paunpat or lotus +Sonwanis; the Gurhiwal, who revere a brass vessel tied to a bamboo on +the first day of the year; the Sati Sonwani, who worship the spirit +of a sati woman ancestor; and the Mungphatia Sonwanis, whose token is +the broken mung pulse. At present these subsepts cannot intermarry, +the union of any two Sonwanis being forbidden, but it seems likely +that intermarriage may be permitted in the course of time. + + + + +3. Marriage and other customs. + +The social customs of the Injhwars resemble those of the lower Maratha +castes. [173] Marriage is forbidden between members of the same sept +and first cousins, and a man should also not take a wife from the sept +of his brother or sister-in-law. This rule prevents the marriage of +two brothers to two sisters, to which there is of course no objection +on the ground of affinity. Girls are usually not married until they +are grown up; but in places where they have been much subjected to +Hindu influences, the Injhwars will sometimes wed an adult girl to a +basil plant in order to avoid the stigma of keeping her in the house +unmarried. The boy's father goes to make a proposal of marriage, +and the girl's father, if he approves it, intimates his consent by +washing his visitor's feet. A bride-price of about Rs. 20 is usually +paid, which is increased somewhat if the bridegroom is a widower, and +decreased if the bride has been seduced before marriage. The marriage +is performed by throwing coloured rice over the couple. Divorce and +the remarriage of widows are permitted. A bachelor who marries a widow +must first go through the ceremony with an arka or swallow-wort plant, +this being considered his real marriage. The Injhwars usually bury the +dead, and in accordance with Dravidian custom place the corpse in the +grave with the feet to the north. When the body is that of a young +girl, the face is left exposed as it is carried to the grave. The +regular ceremonies are performed for the welfare of the deceased's +soul, and they try to ascertain its fate in the next incarnation by +spreading flour on the ground overnight and looking in the morning +for anything resembling the foot-mark of a human being, animal or +bird. On the festival of Akhatij and in the month of Kartik (October) +they offer libations to the dead, setting out a large pitcher of +water for a male and a small one for a female. On the former they +paint five lines of sandalwood to represent a man's caste-mark, and +on the latter five splashes of kunku or the red powder which women +rub on their foreheads. A burning lamp is placed before the pitchers, +and they feed a male Mali or gardener as representative of a dead +man and a female for a woman. + + + + +4. Occupation and social status. + +The Injhwars are generally labourers and cultivators, while the +Sonjharias wash for gold. The women of the Maratha or Chandewar +subcaste serve as midwives. Their social status is low, and in +the forest tracts they will eat snakes and crocodiles, and in fact +almost anything except beef. They will admit members of the Brahman, +Dhimar (waterman), Mali and Gowari castes into the community on +payment of a premium of five to fifteen rupees and a dinner to the +caste-fellows. The candidate for admission, whether male or female, +must have his head shaved clean. Both men and women can obtain pardon +for a liaison with an outsider belonging to any except the most impure +castes by giving a feast to the community. To be beaten with a shoe +involves temporary excommunication from caste, unless the striker be +a Government official, when no penalty is inflicted. If a man kills a +cat, he is required to have an image of it made in silver, which, after +being worshipped, is presented to a temple or thrown into a river. + + + + + + +Jadam + + +Jadam. [174]--A branch of the well-known Yadu or Yadava sept of Rajputs +which has now developed into a caste in the Nerbudda valley. Colonel +Tod describes the Yadu as the most illustrious of all the tribes +of India, this name having been borne by the descendants of Buddha, +progenitor of the Lunar race. The Yadavas were the herdsmen of Mathura, +and Krishna was born in this tribe. His son was Bharat, from whom the +classical name of Bharatavarsha for India is held to be derived. It is +related that when Krishna was about to ascend to heaven, he reflected +that the Yadavas had multiplied exceedingly and would probably cause +trouble to the world after he had left it. So he decided to reduce +their numbers, and one day he persuaded one of his companions to dress +up as a pregnant woman in jest, and they took him to the hermitage of +the saint Durvasa and asked the saint to what the woman would give +birth. Durvasa, who was of a very irascible temper, divined that he +was being trifled with, and replied that a rice-pestle would be born by +which the Yadavas would be destroyed. On the return of the party they +found to their astonishment that a pestle had actually, as it were, +been born from the man. So they were alarmed at the words of the saint +and tried to destroy the pestle by rubbing it on a stone. But as the +sawdust of the pestle fell on the ground there sprang up from it the +shoots of the Gondla or Elephant grass, which grows taller than the +head of a man on horseback. And some time afterwards a quarrel arose +among the Yadavas, and they tore up the stalks of this grass and slew +each other with it. Only one woman escaped, whose son was afterwards +the King of Mathura and the ancestor of the existing tribe. Another +body, however, with whom was Krishna, fled to Gujarat, and on the +coast there built the great temple of Dwarka, in the place known +as Jagat Khant, or the World's End. The story has some resemblance +to that of the sowing of the dragon's teeth by Cadmus at Thebes. The +principal branches of the Yadavas are the Yaduvansi chiefs of Karauli, +in Rajputana, and the Bhatti chiefs of Jaisalmer. The Jadams of +Hoshangabad say that they immigrated from Karauli State about 700 +years ago, having come to the country on a foray for plunder and +afterwards settled here. They have now developed into a caste, marrying +among themselves. In Hoshangabad the caste has two subdivisions, +the Kachhotia who belong principally to the Sohagpur tahsil, and the +Adhodias who live in Seoni and Harda. These two groups are endogamous +and do not marry with each other. The Kachhotia are the offspring of +irregular unions and are looked down upon by the others. They say that +they have fifty-two exogamous groups or sections, but this number is +used locally as an expression of indefinite magnitude. All the sections +appear to be named after villages where their ancestors once lived, +but the preference for totemism has led some of the groups to connect +their names with natural objects. Thus the designation of the Semaria +section may be held to be derived from a village of that name, both +on account of its form, and because the other known section-names are +taken from villages. But the Semaria Jadams have adopted the semar +or cotton-tree as their totem and pay reverence to this. [175] + +Infant-marriage is favoured in the caste, and polygamy is also +prevalent. This is often the case among the agricultural castes, +where a man will marry several wives in order to obtain their +assistance in his cultivation, a wife being a more industrious +and reliable worker than a hired servant. No penalty is, however, +imposed for allowing a girl to reach adolescence before marriage, and +this not infrequently happens. If a girl becomes with child through +a man of the caste she is united to him by a simple rite known as +gunda, in which she merely gives him a ring or throws a garland +of flowers over his neck. A caste feast is also exacted, and the +couple are then considered to be married. The remarriage of widows is +permitted, but it is known by the opprobrious name of Kukar-gauna or +'dog-marriage,' signifying that it is held to be little or no better +than a simple illicit connection. Divorce is also somewhat common in +the caste, notwithstanding that the person who occupies the position +of co-respondent must repay to the husband the expenses incurred by +him on the marriage ceremony. Some women are known to have had ten +or twelve husbands. + +The Jadams are proprietors, tenants and labourers, and are reckoned to +be efficient cultivators; they plough with their own hands and allow +their women to work in the fields. They will also eat food cooked +with water in the field, which is against the practice of the higher +castes. They eat flesh, including that of the wild pig, and fish, +but abstain from liquor, and will take food cooked with water only +from Jijhotia or Sanadhya Brahmans who are their family priests. A +Brahman will take water from the hands of a Jadam in a metal, but not +in an earthen, vessel. Boys are invested with the sacred thread at the +time of their wedding, a common practice among the higher agricultural +castes, and one pointing to the hypothesis suggested in the article on +Gurao that the investiture with the sacred thread was in its origin +a rite of puberty. The women wear a peculiar dress know as sawang, +consisting of a small skirt of about six feet of cloth and a long +body-cloth wrapped round the waist and over the shoulders. They also +have larger spangles on the forehead than other women. The women +of the caste are emancipated to an unusual degree, and it is stated +that they commonly accompany their husbands to market for shopping, +to prevent them from being cheated. Dr. Hunter describes the Jadam as +a brave soldier, but a bad agriculturist; but in the Central Provinces +his courage is rated less highly, and a proverb quoted about him is: +'Patta khatka, Jadam satka,' or 'The Jadam trembles at the rustle of +a leaf.' + + + + + + +Jadua + + +Jadua-, Jaduah-Brahman. [176]--This is the name of a class of +swindlers, who make money by pretending to turn other metals +into gold or finding buried treasure. They are believed to have +originated from the caste of Bhadris or Jyotishis, the astrologers +of western India. The Jyotishi or Joshi astrologers are probably an +offshoot of the Brahman caste. The name Jadua is derived from jadu, +magic. The Bhadris or Jyotishis were in former times, Mr. Knyvett +writes, attached to the courts of all important rajas in western +India, where they told fortunes and prophesied future events from +their computations of the stars, often obtaining great influence and +being consulted as oracles. Readers of Quentin Durward will not need +to be reminded that an exactly similar state of things obtained in +Europe. And both the European and Indian astrologers were continually +searching for the philosopher's stone and endeavouring by the practice +of alchemy to discover the secret of changing silver and other metals +into gold. It is easy to understand how the more dishonest members +of the community would come to make a livelihood by the pretence +of being possessed of this power. The Jaduas belong principally to +Bihar, and Mr. Knyvett's account of them is based on inquiries in that +Province. But it is probable that, like the Bhadris, travelling parties +of Jaduas occasionally visit the Central Provinces. Their method of +procedure is somewhat as follows. They start out in parties of three +or four and make inquiries for the whereabouts of some likely dupe, +in the shape of an ignorant and superstitious person possessed of +property. Sometimes they settle temporarily in a village and open a +small grain-shop in order to facilitate their search. When the victim +has been selected one of them proceeds to his village in the disguise +of a Sadhu or anchorite, being usually accompanied by another as +his chela or disciple. Soon afterwards the others come, one of them +perhaps posing as a considerable landholder, and go about inquiring +if a very holy Brahman has been seen. They go to the house of their +intended dupe, who naturally asks why they are seeking the Brahman; +they reply that they have come to do homage to him as he had turned +their silver and brass ornaments into gold. The dupe at once goes with +them in search of the Brahman, and is greatly impressed by seeing the +landholder worship him with profound respect and make him presents of +cloth, money and cattle. He at once falls into the trap and says that +he too has a quantity of silver which he would like to have turned +into gold. The Brahman pretends reluctance, but eventually yields to +the dupe's entreaties and allows himself to be led to the latter's +house, where with his chela he takes up his quarters in an inner room, +dark and with a mud floor. A variety of tricks are now resorted to, +to impress the dupe with the magic powers of the swindlers. Sometimes +he is directed to place a rupee on his forehead and go to the door +and look at the sun for five minutes, being assured that when he +returns the Brahman will have disappeared by magic. Having looked at +the sun for five minutes he can naturally see nothing on returning to +a dark room and expresses wonder at the Brahman's disappearance and +gradual reappearance as his eyes get accustomed to the darkness. Or +if the trick to be practised is the production of buried treasure, +a rupee may be buried in the ground and after various incantations +two rupees are produced from the same spot by sleight of hand. Or +by some trickery the victim is shown the mouth of an earthen vessel +containing silver or gold coins in a hole dug in the ground. He is +told that the treasure cannot be obtained until more treasure has +been added to it and religious rites have been performed. Sometimes +the victim is made to visit a secluded spot, where he is informed that +after repeating certain incantations Sivaji will appear before him. A +confederate, dressed in tinsel and paint, appears before the victim +posing as Sivaji, and informs him that there is treasure buried in +his house, and it is only necessary to follow the instructions of the +holy Brahman in order to obtain it. The silver ornaments, all that +can be collected, are then made over to the Brahman, who pretends to +tie them in a cloth or place them in an earthen pot and bury them in +the floor of the room. If buried treasure is to be found the Brahman +explains that it is first necessary to bury more treasure in order +to obtain it, and if the ornaments are to be turned into gold they +are buried for the purpose of transmutation. During the process the +victim is induced on some pretence to leave the room or cover himself +with a sheet, when a bundle containing mud or stones is substituted +for the treasure. The Brahman calls for ghi, oil and incense, and +lights a fire over the place where the ornaments are supposed to be +buried, bidding his victim watch over it for some hours or days until +his return. The Brahman and his disciple, with the silver concealed +about them, then leave the house, join their confederates and make +their escape. The duped villager patiently watches the fire until he +becomes tired of waiting for the Brahman's return, when he digs up +the earth and finds nothing in the cloth but stones and rubbish. + + + + + + +Jangam + + +Jangam, Jangama.--A Sivite order of wandering religious mendicants. The +Jangams are the priests or gurus of the Sivite sect of Lingayats. They +numbered 3500 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911, +and frequent the Maratha country. The Jangam is said to be so +called because he wears a movable emblem of Siva (jana gama, to +come and go) in contradistinction to the Sthawar or fixed emblems +found in temples. The Jangams discard many of the modern phases of +Hinduism. They reject the poems in honour of Vishnu, Rama and Krishna, +such as the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana; they also deny the authority +of Brahmans, the efficacy of pilgrimage and self-mortification, and +the restrictions of caste; while they revere principally the Vedas and +the teaching of the great Sivite reformer Shankar Acharya. [177] Like +other religious orders, the Jangams have now become a caste, and are +divided into two groups of celibate and married members. The Gharbaris +(married members) celebrate their weddings in the usual Maratha +fashion, except that they perform no hom or fire sacrifice. They +permit the remarriage of widows. The Jangams wear ochre-coloured or +badami clothes and long necklaces of seeds called rudraksha [178] +beads, which resemble a nutmeg in size, in colour and nearly in shape; +they besmear their forehead, arms and various other parts of the body +with cowdung ashes. They wear the lingam or phallic sign of Siva +either about the neck or loins in a little casket of gold, silver, +copper or brass. As the lingam is supposed to represent the god and +to be eternal, they are buried and not burnt after death, because +the lingam must be buried with them and must not be destroyed in the +fire. If any Jangam loses the lingam he or she must not eat or drink +until it has been replaced by the guru or spiritual preceptor. It +must be worshipped thrice a day, and ashes and bel [179] leaves are +offered to it, besides food when the owner is about to partake of this +himself. The Jangams worship no deity other than Siva or Mahadeo, and +their great festival is the Shivratri. Some of them make pilgrimages +to Pachmarhi, to the Mahadeo hills. Most of them subsist by begging +and singing songs in praise of Mahadeo. Grant-Duff gives the Jangam as +one of the twenty-four village servants in a Maratha village, perhaps +as the priest of the local shrine of Siva, or as the caste priest +of the Lingayats, who are numerous in some Districts of Bombay. He +carries a wallet over the shoulder and a conch-shell and bell in the +hand. On approaching the door of a house he rings his bell to bring +out the occupant, and having received alms proceeds on his way, +blowing his conch-shell, which is supposed to be a propitious act +for the alms-giver, and to ensure his safe passage to heaven. The +wallet is meant to hold the grain given to him, and on returning +home he never empties it completely, but leaves a little grain in +it as its own share. The Jangams are strict vegetarians, and take +food only from the hands of Lingayats. They bless their food before +eating it and always finish it completely, and afterwards wash the +dish with water and drink down the water. When a child is born, the +priest is sent for and his feet are washed with water in a brass +tray. The water is then rubbed over the bodies of those present, +and a few drops sprinkled on the walls of the house as a ceremony +of purification. The priest's great toes are then washed in a cup +of water, and he dips the lingam he wears into this, and then sips +a few drops of the water, each person present doing the same. This +is called karuna or sanctification. He then dips a new lingam into +the holy water, and ties it round the child's neck for a minute or +two, afterwards handing it to the mother to be kept till the child +is old enough to wear it. The dead are buried in a sitting posture, +the lingam being placed in the palm of the hand. On the third day a +clay image of Mahadeo is carried to the grave, and food and flowers +are offered to it, as well as any intoxicants to which the deceased +person may have been addicted. The following notice of the Jangams +more than a century ago may be quoted from the Abbé Dubois, though the +custom described does not, so far as is known, prevail at present, +at least in the Central Provinces: [180] "The gurus or priests of +Siva, who are known in the Western Provinces by the name of Jangams, +are for the most part celibates. They have a custom which is peculiar +to themselves, and curious enough to be worth remarking. When a guru +travels about his district he lodges with some member of the sect, +and the members contend among themselves for the honour of receiving +him. When he has selected the house he wishes to stay in, the master +and all the other male inmates are obliged, out of respect for him, +to leave it and go and stay elsewhere. The holy man remains there day +and night with only the women of the house, whom he keeps to wait on +him and cook for him, without creating any scandal or exciting the +jealousy of the husbands. All the same, some scandal-mongers have +remarked that the Jangams always take care to choose a house where +the women are young." The Jangams are not given to austerities, +and go about well clad. + + + + + + +JAT + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Theories of the origin of the caste. + 2. Sir D. Ibbetson's description of the caste. + 3. Are the Jats and Rajputs distinct? + 4. The position of the Jat in the Punjab. + 5. Social status of the Jats. + 6. Brahmanical legend of origin. + 7. The Jats in the Central Provinces. + 8. Marriage customs. + 9. Funeral rites. + 10. The Paida ceremony. + 11. Customs at birth. + 12. Religion. + 13. Social customs. + 14. Occupation. + + + + +1. Theories of the origin of the caste. + +Jat. [181]--The representative cultivating caste of the Punjab, +corresponding to the Kurmi of Hindustan, the Kunbi of the Deccan, +and the Kapu of Telingana. In the Central Provinces 10,000 Jats were +returned in 1911, of whom 5000 belonged to Hoshangabad and the bulk of +the remainder to Narsinghpur, Saugor and Jubbulpore. The origin of the +Jat caste has been the subject of much discussion. Sir D. Ibbetson +stated some of the theories as follows: [182] "Suffice it to say +that both General Cunningham and Major Tod agree in considering the +Jats to be of Indo-Scythian stock. The former identifies them with +the Zanthii of Strabo and the Jatii of Pliny and Ptolemy; and holds +that they probably entered the Punjab from their home on the Oxus +very shortly after the Meds or Mands, who also were Indo-Scythians, +and who moved into the Punjab about a century before Christ.... Major +Tod classes the Jats as one of the great Rajput tribes, and extends +his identification with the Getae to both races; but here General +Cunningham differs, holding the Rajputs to belong to the original Aryan +stock, and the Jats to a later wave of immigrants from the north-west, +probably of Scythian race." It is highly probable that the Jats may +date their settlement in the Punjab from one of the three Scythian +inroads mentioned by Mr. V. A. Smith, [183] but I do not know that +there is as yet considered to be adequate evidence to identify them +with any particular one. + +The following curious passage from the Mahabharata would appear to +refer to the Jats: [184] + +"An old and excellent Brahman reviling the countries Bahika and +Madra in the dwelling of Dhritarashtra, related facts long known, and +thus described those nations. External to the Himavan, and beyond the +Ganges, beyond the Sarasvati and Yamuna rivers and Kurukshetra, between +five rivers, and the Sindhu as the sixth, are situated the Bahikas, +devoid of ritual or observance, and therefore to be shunned. Their +figtree is named Govardhana (i.e. the place of cow-killing); their +market-place is Subhadram (the place of vending liquor: at least so +say the commentators), and these give titles to the doorway of the +royal palace. A business of great importance compelled me to dwell +amongst the Bahikas, and their customs are therefore well known to +me. The chief city is called Shakala, and the river Apaga. The people +are also named Jarttikas; and their customs are shameful. They drink +spirits made from sugar and grain, and eat meat seasoned with garlic; +and live on flesh and wine: their women intoxicated appear in public +places, with no other garb than garlands and perfumes, dancing and +singing, and vociferating indecencies in tones more harsh than those of +the camel or the ass; they indulge in promiscuous intercourse and are +under no restraint. They clothe themselves in skins and blankets, and +sound the cymbal and drum and conch, and cry aloud with hoarse voices: +'We will hasten to delight, in thick forests and in pleasant places; +we will feast and sport; and gathering on the highways spring upon the +travellers, and spoil and scourge them!' In Shakala, a female demon +(a Rakshasi) on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight sings aloud: +'I will feast on the flesh of kine, and quaff the inebriating spirit +attended by fair and graceful females.' The Sudra-like Bahikas have no +institutes nor sacrifices; and neither deities, manes, nor Brahmans +accept their offerings. They eat out of wooden or earthen plates, +nor heed their being smeared with wine or viands, or licked by dogs, +and they use equally in its various preparations the milk of ewes, +of camels and of asses. Who that has drunk milk in the city Yugandhara +can hope to enter Svarga? Bahi and Hika were the names of two fiends +in the Vipasha river; the Bahikas are their descendants and not of +the creation of Brahma. Some say the Arattas are the name of the +people and Bahika of the waters. The Vedas are not known there, +nor oblation, nor sacrifice, and the gods will not partake of their +food. The Prasthalas (perhaps borderers), Madras, Gandharas, Arattas, +Khashas, Vasas, Atisindhus (or those beyond the Indus), Sauviras, are +all equally infamous. There one who is by birth a Brahman, becomes a +Kshatriya, or a Vaishya, or a Sudra, or a Barber, and having been a +barber becomes a Brahman again. A virtuous woman was once violated by +Aratta ruffians, and she cursed the race, and their women have ever +since been unchaste. On this account their heirs are their sisters' +children, not their own. All countries have their laws and gods: +the Yavanas are wise, and preeminently brave; the Mlechchas observe +their own ritual, but the Madrakas are worthless. Madra is the ordure +of the earth: it is the region of inebriety, unchastity, robbery, +and murder: fie on the Panchanada people! fie on the Aratta race!" + +In the above account the country referred to is clearly the Punjab, +from the mention of the five rivers and the Indus. The people are +called Bahika or Jarttika, and would therefore seem to be the Jats. And +the account would appear to refer to a period when they were newly +settled in the Punjab and had not come under Hindu influence. But +at the same time the Aryans or Hindus had passed through the Punjab +and were settled in Hindustan. And it would therefore seem to be a +necessary inference that the Jats were comparatively late immigrants, +and were one of the tribes who invaded India between the second +century B.C. and the fifth century A.D. as suggested above. + + + + +2. Sir D. Ibbetson's description of the caste. + +Sir D. Ibbetson held that the Jats and Rajputs must be, to some +extent at least, of the same blood. Though the Jats are represented +in the Central Provinces only by a small body of immigrants it will +be permissible to quote the following passages from his admirable +and classical account of the caste: [185] + +"It may be that the original Rajput and the original Jat entered +India at different periods in its history, though to my mind the term +Rajput is an occupational rather than an ethnological expression. But +if they do originally represent two separate waves of immigration, +it is at least exceedingly probable, both from their almost identical +physique and facial character and from the close communion which has +always existed between them, that they belong to one and the same +ethnic stock; while, whether this be so or not, it is almost certain +that they have been for many centuries and still are so intermingled +and so blended into one people that it is practically impossible to +distinguish them as separate wholes. It is indeed more than probable +that the process of fusion has not ended here, and that the people +who thus in the main resulted from the blending of the Jat and the +Rajput, if these two were ever distinct, is by no means free from +foreign elements.... + + + + +3. Are the Jats and Rajputs distinct? + +"But whether Jats and Rajputs were or were not originally distinct, +and whatever aboriginal elements may have been affiliated to their +society, I think that the two now form a common stock, the distinction +between Jat and Rajput being social rather than ethnic. I believe +that those families of that common stock whom the tide of fortune +has raised to political importance have become Rajputs almost by +mere virtue of their rise; and that their descendants have retained +the title and its privileges on the condition, strictly enforced, of +observing the rules by which the higher are distinguished from the +lower castes in the Hindu scale of precedence; of preserving their +purity of blood by refusing to marry with families of inferior social +rank, of rigidly abstaining from widow-marriage, and of refraining +from degrading occupations. Those who transgressed these rules have +fallen from their high position and ceased to be Rajputs; while +such families as, attaining a dominant position in their territory, +began to affect social exclusiveness and to observe the rules, have +become not only Rajas but also Rajputs or sons of Rajas. For the last +seven centuries at least the process of elevation has been almost at +a standstill. Under the Delhi Emperors king-making was practically +impossible. Under the Sikhs the Rajput was overshadowed by the Jat, +who resented his assumption of superiority and his refusal to join him +on equal terms in the ranks of the Khalsa, deliberately persecuted him +wherever and whenever he had the power, and preferred his title of Jat +Sikh to that of the proudest Rajput. On the frontier the dominance +of Pathans and Biloches and the general prevalence of Muhammadan +feelings and ideas placed recent Indian origin at a discount, and +led the leading families who belonged to neither of these two races +to claim connection not with the Kshatriyas of the Sanskrit classics +but with the Mughal conquerors of India or the Qureshi cousins of +the Prophet; in so much that even admittedly Rajput tribes of famous +ancestry, such as the Khokha, have begun to follow the example. But +in the hills, where Rajput dynasties, with genealogies perhaps more +ancient and unbroken than can be shown by any other royal families +in the world, retained their independence till yesterday, and where +many of them still enjoy as great social authority as ever, the twin +processes of degradation from and elevation to Rajput rank are still +to be seen in operation. The Raja is there the fountain not only of +honour but also of caste, which is the same thing in India.... + + + + +4. The position of the Jat in the Punjab. + +"The Jat is in every respect the most important of the Punjab +peoples. In point of numbers he surpasses the Rajput, who comes next +to him, in the proportion of nearly three to one; while the two +together constitute twenty-seven per cent of the whole population +of the Province. Politically he ruled the Punjab till the Khalsa +yielded to our arms. Ethnologically he is the peculiar and most +prominent product of the plain of the five rivers. And from an +economical and administrative point of view he is the husbandman, +the peasant, the revenue-payer par excellence of the Province. His +manners do not bear the impress of generations of wild freedom which +marks the races of our frontier mountains. But he is more honest, +more industrious, more sturdy, and no less manly than they. Sturdy +independence indeed and patient, vigorous labour are his strongest +characteristics. The Jat is of all Punjab races the most impatient +of tribal or communal control, and the one which asserts the freedom +of the individual most strongly. In tracts where, as in Rohtak, +the Jat tribes have the field to themselves, and are compelled, +in default of rival castes as enemies, to fall back upon each other +for somebody to quarrel with, the tribal ties are strong. But as a +rule a Jat is a man who does what seems right in his own eyes and +sometimes what seems wrong also, and will not be said nay by any +man. I do not mean, however, that he is turbulent; as a rule he is +very far from being so. He is independent and he is self-willed; but +he is reasonable, peaceably inclined if left alone, and not difficult +to manage. He is usually content to cultivate his fields and pay +his revenue in peace and quietness if people will let him do so; +though when he does go wrong he takes to anything from gambling to +murder, with perhaps a preference for stealing other people's wives +and cattle. As usual the proverbial wisdom of the villages describes +him very fairly though perhaps somewhat too severely: 'The soil, +fodder, clothes, hemp, grass-fibre, and silk, these six are best +beaten; and the seventh is the Jat.' 'A Jat, a Bhat, a caterpillar, +and a widow woman; these four are best hungry. If they eat their fill +they do harm.' 'The Jat, like a wound, is better when bound.' In +agriculture the Jat is pre-eminent. The market-gardening castes, +the Arain, the Mali, the Saini are perhaps more skilful cultivators +on a small scale; but they cannot rival the Jat as landowners and +yeoman cultivators. The Jat calls himself zamindar or 'husbandman' as +often as Jat, and his women and children alike work with him in the +fields: 'The Jat's baby has a plough-handle for a plaything.' 'The +Jat stood on his corn heap and said to the king's elephant-drivers, +Will you sell those little donkeys?' Socially the Jat occupies a +position which is shared by the Ror, the Gujar, and the Ahir, all +four eating and smoking together. He is, of course, far below the +Rajput, from the simple fact that he practises widow-marriage. The +Jat father is made to say in the rhyming proverbs of the countryside, +'Come, my daughter, and be married; if this husband dies there are +plenty more.' But among the widow-marrying castes he stands first. The +Bania with his sacred thread, his strict Hinduism, and his twice-born +standing, looks down on the Jat as a Sudra. But the Jat looks down +upon the Bania as a cowardly, spiritless money-grubber, and society +in general agrees with the Jat. The Khatri, who is far superior to +the Bania in manliness and vigour, probably takes precedence of the +Jat. But among the races or tribes of purely Hindu origin, I think that +the Jat stands next after the Brahman, the Rajput, and the Khatri." + + + + +5. Social status of the Jats. + +The above account clearly indicates the social position of the +Jat. His is the highest caste except the aristocracy consisting +of the Brahmans and Rajputs, the Khatris who are derived from the +Rajputs, and the Banias who are recognised as ranking not much +below the Rajputs. The derivation of some of the Rajput clans from +the Jats seems highly probable, and is confirmed by other instances +of aristocratic selection in such castes as the Marathas and Kunbis, +the Raj-Gonds and Gonds, and so on. If, however, the Rajputs are a Jat +aristocracy, it is clear that the Jats were not the Sudras, who are +described as wholly debased and impure in the Hindu classics; and the +present application of the term Sudra to them is a misnomer arising +from modern errors in classification by the Hindus themselves. The +Jats, if Sir D. Ibbetson's account be accepted, must have been the +main body of the invading host, whether Aryan or Scythian, of whom +the Rajputs were the leaders. They settled on the land and formed +village communities, and the status of the Jat at present appears to +be that of a member of the village community and part-holder of its +land. A slightly undue importance may perhaps have been given in the +above passage to the practice of widow-marriage as determining the +position of a great caste like the Jats. Some Rajputs, Kayasths and +Banias permit widow-marriage, and considerable sections of all these +castes, and Brahmans also, permit the practice of keeping widows, +which, though not called a marriage, does not differ very widely from +it. The Jat probably finds his women too valuable as assistants in +cultivation to make a pretence at the abolition of widow-marriage in +order to improve his social status as some other castes do. The Jat, +of course, ranks as what is commonly called a pure caste, in that +Brahmans take water to drink from him. But his status does not depend +on this, because Brahmans take water from such menials as barbers, +Kahars or bearers, Baris or household servants, and so on, who rank +far below the Jat, and also from the Malis and other gardening castes +who are appreciably below him. The Jat is equal to the Gujar and Ahir +so far as social purity is concerned, but still above them, because +they are graziers and vagrants, while he is a settled cultivator. It +is from this fact that his status is perhaps mainly derived; and +his leading characteristics, his independence, self-sufficiency, +doggedness, and industry, are those generally recognised as typical +of the peasant proprietor. But the Jat, in the Punjab at any rate, +has also a higher status than the principal cultivating castes of +other provinces, the Kurmi and the Kunbi. And this may perhaps be +explained by his purer foreign descent, and also by the fact that +both as Jat and as Sikh his caste has been a military and dominant +one in history and has furnished princes and heads of states. + + + + +6. Brahmanical legend of origin. + +The Jats themselves relate the following Brahmanical legend of +their origin. On one occasion when Himachal or Daksha Raja, the +father-in-law of Mahadeo, was performing a great sacrifice, he +invited all the gods to be present except his son-in-law Mahadeo +(Siva). The latter's wife Parvati was, however, very anxious to go, +so she asked Mahadeo to let her attend, even though she had not been +invited. Mahadeo was unwilling to do this, but finally consented. But +Daksha treated Parvati with great want of respect at the sacrifice, +so she came home and told Mahadeo about him. When Mahadeo heard this +he was filled with wrath, and untying his matted hair (jata) dashed +it on the ground, when two powerful beings arose from it. He sent +them to destroy Daksha's sacrifice and they went and destroyed it, +and from these were descended the race of the Jats, and they take +their name from the matted locks (jata) of the lord Mahadeo. Another +saying of the caste is that "The ancestor of the Rajputs was Kashyap +[186] and of the Jats Siva. In the beginning these were the only two +races of India." + + + + +7. The Jats in the Central Provinces. + +No detailed description of the Jats need be attempted here, but +some information which has been obtained on their customs in this +Province may be recorded. They entered the Hoshangabad District, +Sir C. Elliot states, [187] in the eighteenth century, and came +originally from Bharatpur (Bhurtpur), but halted in Marwar on the +way. "They are the best cultivators in the District after the Pardeshi +Kurmis, and though they confine themselves to ordinary crops they +are very laborious, and the tilth of their fields is pleasant to look +on." For the purposes of marriage the caste is divided into exogamous +sections in the usual manner. The bulk of the section-names cannot be +explained, being probably corrupted forms of the names of villages, +but it is noticeable that several pairs of them are considered to be +related so that their members cannot intermarry. Thus no marriages +can take place between the Golia and Gwalwa, the Choyala and Sarana, +the Bhukar and Bhari, and the Lathial and Lalar sections, as each +pair is considered to be descended from a common ancestor. + + + + +8. Marriage customs. + +A man may not take a wife either from his own section or that of +his mother or his grandmother, nor from those of the husbands of his +father's sisters. For a Jat wedding a square enclosure is marked out +with pegs, and a thread is wound seven times round the pegs touching +the ground, and covered over with rice or wheat so that it may not +be burnt. The enclosure is known as Chaonri, and inside it the hom +or fire sacrifice is performed with butter, barley, sesamum, sugar +and saffron placed on the top of a heap of wheat-flour. After the +sacrifice the bride and bridegroom walk seven times round the Chaonri +with their right hands inwards. After this tufts of cotton are thrown +over the bodies of the bridegroom and bride and they have to pick +it off each other, the one who finishes first being considered the +winner. This is apparently a symbolical imitation of the agricultural +operation of cotton-picking. The remarriage of widows is permitted, +the ceremony being usually performed on a Saturday. A bachelor +who is to marry a widow must first walk seven times round a pipal +tree. Contrary to the usual custom, a widow is forbidden to espouse +her deceased husband's younger brother or any of his relations within +three degrees of consanguinity. + + + + +9. Funeral rites. + +The dead are burnt, with the exception of children under seven +whose bodies are buried. After the death of a married man his +widow walks round his body seven times with her left hand inwards, +or in the reverse direction to the perambulation of the Chaonri at +marriage. This ceremony is therefore, as it were, a sort of undoing +of the marriage. The women wear lac or ivory bangles, and the widow +breaks a few of these when the corpse of her husband is lifted up to be +carried outside the house. She breaks the remaining ones on the twelfth +day after the death and throws them on the chulha or earthen hearth. + + + + +10. The Paida ceremony. + +An important occasion for display among the Jats is known as the Paida +ceremony. This is sometimes performed by wealthy families when the head +of the household or his wife dies or a daughter is married. They get +a long pole of teakwood and plant it in the ground so that it stands +some forty feet high. Before being raised the pole is worshipped with +offerings of milk; a cart-wheel is tied to the upper end and it is +then pulled erect with ropes, and if any difficulty is experienced +the celebrant believes himself to be in fault and gives away some +cows in charity. On the axle of the cart-wheel is secured a brass pot +called kaseri, containing wheat and money, with a cloth tied over the +mouth. The pole is left standing for three days, and during this time +the celebrant feasts the Bhats or genealogists of the caste and all +the caste-fellows from his own and the surrounding villages. If the +occasion of the ceremony be a death, male and female calves are taken +and their marriage is performed; oil and turmeric are rubbed on their +bodies, and they are led seven times round the high pole. The heifer +is then given to a Brahman, and the male, being first branded on one +flank with a figure of a trident and on the other with a representation +of the sun and moon, is set at liberty for life, and no Hindu will +injure it. This last practice is, however, falling into desuetude, +owing to the injury which such animals inflict on the crops. A +Jat who performs the Paida ceremony obtains great consideration in +the community, and his opinion is given weight in caste disputes. A +similar liberality is observed in other ways by wealthy men; thus one +rich proprietor in Hoshangabad, whose son was to be married, gave a +feast to all the residents of every village through which the wedding +procession passed on its way to the bride's house. Another presented +each of his wedding guests with new cloth to the value of ten or +twelve rupees, and as in the case of a prominent family the number +of guests may be a thousand or more, the cost of such liberality can +be easily realised. Similarly Colonel Tod states that on the occasion +of their weddings the Jats of Bikaner even blocked up the highways to +obtain visitors, whose numbers formed the measure of the liberality +and munificence of the donor of the fête. Indeed, the desire for the +social distinction which accrues to generous hosts on such occasions +has proved to be the undoing of many a once notable family. + + + + +11. Customs at birth. + +If a woman is barren, she is taken to the meeting of the boundaries +of three villages and bathed there. On the birth of a boy a brass +dish is hammered to announce the event, but on that of a girl +only a winnowing-fan. The navel-string is buried in the lying-in +room. When the newborn child is a few days old, it is taken out of +doors and made to bow to the sun. When a man proposes to adopt a +son the caste-fellows are invited, and in their presence the boy is +seated in his lap, while music is played and songs are sung by the +women. Each of the guests then comes up and presents the boy with a +cocoanut, while sugar is distributed and a feast is afterwards given. + + + + +12. Religion. + +The favourite deity of the caste is Siva or Mahadeo, whom they +consider to be their ultimate ancestor. On the festival of Shivratri +(Siva's night) they observe a total fast, and pass the whole day +and night singing songs in honour of the god, while offerings of bel +[188] leaves, flowers, rice and sandalwood are made on the following +morning. In Hoshangabad the caste have two minor deities, Ramji Deo and +Bairam Deo, who are presumably the spirits of defunct warriors. These +are worshipped on the eleventh day of every month, and many Jats wear +an impression of their images on a piece of gold or silver round the +neck. On the Dasahra festival the caste worship their swords and horses +in memory of their soldier ancestors, and they revere their implements +of husbandry on the Akshaya Tritiya of Baisakh (June), the commencement +of the agricultural year, while each cultivator does the same on the +days that he completes the sowing of his rain crops and winter crops. + + + + +13. Social customs. + +The caste employ Brahmans for the performance of their ceremonies, +and also as their gurus or spiritual preceptors. They eat flesh and +drink liquor in the Central Provinces, but in Hoshangabad they do +not consume either birds or fish; and when they eat mutton or the +flesh of the wild pig, they do this only outside the house, in order +not to offend their women, who will not eat flesh. In Hoshangabad +the Jats, like other immigrants from Marwar, commonly wear their +hair long and keep the face unshaven, and this gives them rather a +wild and farouche appearance among the neatly shorn Hindus of the +Nerbudda Valley. [189] They are of light complexion, the difference +in shade between the Jats and ordinary residents in the locality +being apparent to the casual observer. Their women are fond of the +hollow anklets known as bora, which contain small balls or pebbles, +and tinkle as they walk. Girls are tattooed before marriage, and while +the operation is being carried out the women of the caste collect and +sing songs to divert the sufferer's attention from the pain. The men +have pagris or turbans made of many little strings of twisted cloth, +which come down over the ears. If a man kills a cow or a squirrel, +he must stay outside the village for five weeks and nobody looks +upon his face. After this he should go and bathe in the Ganges, +but if he is too poor the Nerbudda may be substituted for it with +the permission of the caste committee. The penalty for killing a cat +is almost as severe, but to slay a dog involves no sin. If a man who +has committed a murder escapes conviction but his guilt is known to +the caste, it is absolutely incumbent on him to go and bathe in the +Ganges and be purified there, having his head and face shaved. After +this he may be readmitted to caste intercourse. The caste observe +some curious rules or taboos: they never drink the milk of a black +cow; their women do not have their noses bored for nose-rings, but +if a woman loses several children she will have the nose bored of +the next one which is born; women never wear glass bangles, but have +them made of ivory or lac and clay; they never wear the bazuband or +armlet with bars crossed on hinges which can be pulled in or out, +but instead of it the kara or rigid bangle; and the caste never keep +a basil plant in the house for worship, though they may revere it +outside the house. As the basil is the emblem of Vishnu, and the Jats +consider themselves to be descended from Siva, they would naturally +not be inclined to pay any special respect to the plant. + + + + +14. Occupation. + +The Jats are good cultivators, and at the thirty years' settlement +(1865) several members of the caste held considerable estates; but a +number of these have now been lost, owing probably to extravagance of +living. In Saugor the Jats are commonly employed as masons or navvies. + + + + + + +JHADI TELENGA + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice. + 2. Exogamous divisions. + 3. Admission of outsiders. + 4. Marriage. + 5. Religion. + 6. Names. + 7. Magical devices. + 8. Occupation. + + + + +1. General notice. + +Jhadi Telenga. [190]--A small caste in the Bastar State who appear to +be a mixture of Gonds and the lower Telugu castes, the name meaning +'The jungly Telugus.' Those living in the open country are called +Mandar Telengas. In the census of 1901 these Telengas were wrongly +classified under the Balji or Balija caste. They numbered about 5000 +persons. The caste have three divisions according to their comparative +purity of descent, which are named Purait, Surait and Pohni. The son +of a Purait by a woman of different caste will be a Surait, and the +son of a Surait by such a woman will be a Pohni. Such alliances are +now, however, infrequent, and most of the Telengas in Bastar belong +to the Purait or legitimate group. A Pohni will take cooked food from +the two higher groups and a Surait from a Purait. The last will take +water from the two lower groups, but not food. + + + + +2. Exogamous divisions. + +For the purposes of marriage the caste is divided into the usual +exogamous septs, and these are further arranged in two groups. The +first group contains the following septs: Kudmulwadu, from kudmul, +a preparation of rice; Kolmulwadu, from kolmul, a treasure-pit; +Lingawadu, from the linga emblem; and Nagulwadu, a ploughman. The +second group contains the following septs: Kodamajjiwadu, a hunter and +trapper of animals; Wargaiwadu, one who makes ropes from wood-fibre; +Paspulwadu, one who prepares turmeric; Pankiwadu, one who distributes +cooked food; Bhandariwadu, a rich man; and one or two others. The rule +is that no man or woman of a sept belonging to the first group should +marry in any other sept of that group, but always from some sept of +the other. This, therefore, appears to be a relic of the classificatory +system of marriage, which obtains among the Australian aborigines. The +rule is now, however, sometimes violated. The caste say that their +ancestors came from Warangal with the ruling family of Bastar. + + + + +3. Admission of outsiders. + +They will admit Brahmans, Rajputs and Halbas into the community. If a +man of any of these castes has a child by a Telenga woman, this child +will be considered to belong to the same group of the Jhadi Telengas +as its mother. If a man of lower caste, such as Rawat, Dhakar, Jangam, +Kumhar or Kalar has such a child it will be admitted into the next +lower group than that to which the mother belonged. Thus the child of +a Purait woman by one of these castes will become a Surait. A Telenga +woman having a child by a Gond, Sunar, Lohar or Mehra man is put out +of caste. + + + + +4. Marriage. + +A girl cannot be properly married unless the ceremony is performed +before she arrives at puberty. After this she can only be married by +an abridged rite, which consists of rubbing her with oil and turmeric, +investing her with glass bangles and a new cloth, and giving a feast +to the caste. In such a case the bridegroom first goes through a +sham marriage with the branch of a mahua tree. The boy's father +looks out for a girl, and the most suitable match is considered to +be his sister's daughter. Before giving away his daughter he must +ask his wife's brother and his own sister whether they want her for +one of their sons. When setting out to make a proposal they take the +omens from a bird called Usi. The best omen is to hear this bird's +call on both sides of them as they go into the jungle. When asking +for the girl the envoys say to her father, 'You have got rice and +pulse; give them to us for our friend's son.' The wedding should be +held on a Monday or Thursday, and the bridegroom should arrive at +the bride's village on a Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday. The +sacred post in the centre of the marriage-shed must be of the mahua +[191] tree, which is no doubt held sacred by these people, as by the +Gonds, because spirituous liquor is made from its fruit. A widow +must mourn her husband for a month, and can then marry again. But +she may not marry her late husband's brother, nor his first cousin, +nor any member of her father's sept. Divorce is allowed, but no man +will divorce his wife unless she leaves him of her own accord or is +known to be intriguing with a man of lower caste. + + + + +5. Religion. + +Each sept has a deity of its own who is usually some local god +symbolised by a wooden post or a stone. Instances of these are Kondraj +of Santoshpur represented by a wooden pillar carved into circular form +at the top; Chikat Raj of Bijapur by two bamboos six feet in length +leaning against a wall; Kaunam Raj of Gongla by a stone image, and at +fairs by a bamboo with peacock's feathers tied at the top. They offer +incense, rice and a fowl to their ancestors in their own houses in +Chait (March) at the new year, and at the festival of the new rice in +Bhadon (August). At the sowing festival they go out hunting, and those +who return empty-handed think they will have ill-luck. Each tenant +also worships the earth-goddess, whose image is then decorated with +flowers and vermilion. He brings a goat, and rice is placed before it +at her shrine. If the animal eats the sacrifice is held to be accepted, +but if not it is returned to the owner, and it is thought that some +misfortune will befall him. The heads of all the goats offered are +taken by the priest and the bodies returned to the worshippers to be +consumed at a feast. Each village has also its tutelary god, having a +hut to himself. Inside this a post of mahua wood is fixed in the ground +and roughly squared, and a peg is driven into it at the top. The god +is represented by another bamboo peg about two inches long, which is +first worshipped in front of the post and then suspended from it in a +receptacle. In each village the smallpox goddess is also present in +the form of a stone, either with or without a hut over it. A Jangam +or devotee of the Lingayat sect is usually the caste priest, and at +a funeral he follows the corpse ringing his bell. If a man is put +out of caste through getting maggots in a wound or being beaten by a +shoe, he must be purified by the Jangam. The latter rubs some ashes +on his own body and places them in the offender's mouth, and gives +him to drink some water from his own lota in place of water from a +sacred river. For this the offender pays a fee of five rupees and a +calf to the Jangam and must also give a feast to the caste. The dead +are either buried or burnt, the head being placed to the east. The +eldest son has his head and face shaved on the death of the father +of the family, and the youngest on that of the mother. + + + + +6. Names. + +A child is named on the seventh or eighth day after birth by the old +women. If it is much given to crying they consider the name unsuitable +and change it, repeating those of deceased relatives. When the child +stops crying at the mention of a particular name, they consider that +the relative mentioned has been born again in the child and name it +after him. Often the name of the sept is combined with the personal +name as Lingam-Lachha, Lingam-Kachchi, Panki-Samaya, Panki-Ganglu, +Panki-Buchcham, Nagul-Sama, Nagul-Mutta. + + + + +7. Magical devices + +When a man wishes to destroy an enemy he makes an image of him with +earth and offers a pig and goat to the family god, praying for the +enemy's destruction. Then the operator takes a frog or a tree-lizard +which has been kept ready and breaks all its limbs, thinking that +the limbs of his enemy will similarly be broken and that the man will +die. Or he takes some grains of kossa, a small millet, and proceeds +to a saj [192] or mahua tree. A pigeon is offered to the tree and to +the family god, and both are asked to destroy the foe. The man then +ascends the tree, and muttering incantations throws the grains in the +direction of his enemy thinking that they will enter his body and +destroy him. To counteract these devices a man who thinks himself +bewitched calls in the aid of a wizard, who sucks out of his body +the grains or other evil things which have been caused to enter it as +shown above. Occasionally a man will promise a human sacrifice to his +god. For this he must get some hair or a piece of cloth belonging to +somebody else and wash it in water in the name of the god, who may then +kill the owner of the hair or cloth and thus obtain the sacrifice. Or +the sacrificer may pick a quarrel and assault the other person so as +to draw blood from him. He picks up a drop or two of the blood and +offers it to the deity with the same end in view. + + + + +8. Occupation. + +The caste are cultivators and farmservants, and are, as a rule, very +poor, living from hand to mouth. They practise shifting cultivation and +are too lazy to grow the more valuable crops. They eat grain twice a +day during the four months from October to January only, and at other +times eke out their scanty provision with edible roots and leaves, +and hunt and fish in the forest like the Muria and Maria Gonds. + + + + + + +JOGI + + +[Bibliography: Sir E. Maclagan's Punjab Census Report (1891); +Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes, articles Jogi, Kanphata and +Aghorpanthi; Mr. Kitts' Berar Census Report (1881); Professor Oman's +Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India (London: T. Fisher Unwin).] + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. The Yoga philosophy. + 2. Abstraction of the senses or autohypnotism. + 3. Breathing through either nostril. + 4. Self-torture of the Jogis. + 5. Resort to them for oracles. + 6. Divisions of the order. + 7. Hair and clothes. + 8. Burial. + 9. Festivals. + 10. Caste subdivisions. + 11. Begging. + 12. Other occupations. + 13. Swindling practices. + 14. Proverbs about Jogis. + + + + +1. The Yoga philosophy. + +Jogi, Yogi.--The well-known order of religious mendicants and +devotees of Siva. The Jogi or Yogi, properly so called, is a follower +of the Yoga system of philosophy founded by Patanjali, the main +characteristics of which are a belief in the power of man over nature +by means of austerities and the occult influences of the will. The +idea is that one who has obtained complete control over himself, +and entirely subdued all fleshly desires, acquires such potency +of mind and will that he can influence the forces of nature at his +pleasure. The Yoga philosophy has indeed so much sub-stratum of truth +that a man who has complete control of himself has the strongest will, +and hence the most power to influence others, and an exaggerated +idea of this power is no doubt fostered by the display of mesmeric +control and similar phenomena. The fact that the influence which +can be exerted over other human beings through their minds in no way +extends to the physical phenomena of inanimate nature is obvious to +us, but was by no means so to the uneducated Hindus, who have no clear +conceptions of the terms mental and physical, animate and inanimate, +nor of the ideas connoted by them. To them all nature was animate, +and all its phenomena the results of the actions of sentient beings, +and hence it was not difficult for them to suppose that men could +influence the proceedings of such beings. And it is a matter of +common knowledge that savage peoples believe their magicians to be +capable of producing rain and fine weather, and even of controlling +the course of the sun. [193] The Hindu sacred books indeed contain +numerous instances of ascetics who by their austerities acquired such +powers as to compel the highest gods themselves to obedience. + + + + +2. Abstraction of the senses or autohypnotism. + +The term Yoga is held to mean unity or communion with God, and the Yogi +by virtue of his painful discipline and mental and physical exercises +considered himself divine. "The adept acquires the knowledge of +everything past and future, remote or hidden; he divines the thoughts +of others, gains the strength of an elephant, the courage of a lion, +and the swiftness of the wind; flies into the air, floats in the water, +and dives into the earth, contemplates all worlds at one glance and +performs many strange things." [194] + +The following excellent instance of the pretensions of the Yogis is +given by Professor Oman: [195] "Wolff went also with Mr. Wilson to see +one of the celebrated Yogis who was lying in the sun in the street, +the nails of whose hands were grown into his cheeks and a bird's nest +upon his head. Wolff asked him, 'How can one obtain the knowledge +of God?' He replied, 'Do not ask me questions; you may look at me, +for I am God.' + +"It is certainly not easy at the present day," Professor Oman states, +[196] "for the western mind to enter into the spirit of the so-called +Yoga philosophy; but the student of religious opinions is aware +that in the early centuries of our era the Gnostics, Manichæans and +Neo-Platonists derived their peculiar tenets and practices from the +Yoga-vidya of India, and that at a later date the Sufi philosophy +of Persia drew its most remarkable ideas from the same source. [197] +The great historian of the Roman Empire refers to the subject in the +following passage: "The Fakirs of India and the monks of the Oriental +Church, were alike persuaded that in total abstraction of the faculties +of the mind and body, the pure spirit may ascend to the enjoyment +and vision of the Deity. The opinion and practice of the monasteries +of Mount Athos will be best represented in the words of an abbot, +who flourished in the eleventh century: 'When thou art alone in thy +cell,' says the ascetic teacher, 'Shut thy door, and seat thyself +in a corner, raise thy mind above all things vain and transitory, +recline thy beard and chin on thy breast, turn thine eyes and thy +thoughts towards the middle of the belly, the region of the navel, +and search the place of the heart, the seat of the soul. At first +all will be dark and comfortless; but if you persevere day and night, +you will feel an ineffable joy; and no sooner has the soul discovered +the place of the heart, than it is involved in a mystic and ethereal +light.' This light, the production of a distempered fancy, the creature +of an empty stomach and an empty brain, was adored by the Quietists +as the pure and perfect essence of God Himself." [198] + +"Without entering into unnecessary details, many of which are simply +disgusting, I shall quote, as samples, a few of the rules of practice +required to be followed by the would-be Yogi in order to induce a +state of Samadhi--hypnotism or trance--which is the condition or state +in which the Yogi is to enjoy the promised privileges of Yoga. The +extracts are from a treatise on the Yoga philosophy by Assistant +Surgeon Nobin Chander Pal." [199] + +"Place the left foot upon the right thigh, and the right foot upon the +left thigh; hold with the right hand the right great toe and with the +left hand the left great toe (the hands coming from behind the back +and crossing each other); rest the chin on the interclavicular space, +and fix the sight on the tip of the nose. + +"Inspire through the left nostril, fill the stomach with the inspired +air by the act of deglutition, suspend the breath, and expire through +the right nostril. Next inspire through the right nostril, swallow +the inspired air, suspend the breath, and finally expire through the +left nostril. + +"Be seated in a tranquil posture, and fix your sight on the tip of +the nose for the space of ten minutes. + +"Close the ears with the middle fingers, incline the head a little +to the right side and listen with each ear attentively to the sound +produced by the other ear, for the space of ten minutes. + +"Pronounce inaudibly twelve thousand times the mystic syllable Om, +and meditate upon it daily after deep inspirations. + +"After a few forcible inspirations swallow the tongue, and thereby +suspend the breath and deglutate the saliva for two hours. + +"Listen to the sounds within the right ear abstractedly for two hours, +with the left ear. + +"Repeat the mystic syllable Om 20,736,000 times in silence and meditate +upon it. + +"Suspend the respiratory movements for the period of twelve days, +and you will be in a state of Samadhi." + +Another account of a similar procedure is given by Buchanan: [200] +"Those who pretend to be eminent saints perform the ceremony called +Yoga, described in the Tantras. In the accomplishment of this, by +shutting what are called the nine passages (dwara, lit. doors) of +the body, the votary is supposed to distribute the breath into the +different parts of the body, and thus to obtain the beatific vision +of various gods. It is only persons who abstain from the indulgence +of concupiscence that can pretend to perform this ceremony, which +during the whole time that the breath can be held in the proper place +excites an ecstasy equal to whatever woman can bestow on man." + + + + +3. Breathing through either nostril. + +It is clear that the effect of some of the above practices is designed +to produce a state of mind resembling the hypnotic trance. The Yogis +attach much importance to the effect of breathing through one or +the other nostril, and this is also the case with Hindus generally, +as various rules concerning it are prescribed for the daily prayers +of Brahmans. To have both nostrils free and be breathing through +them at the same time is not good, and one should not begin any +business in this condition. If one is breathing only through the +right nostril and the left is closed, the condition is propitious +for the following actions: To eat and drink, as digestion will be +quick; to fight; to bathe; to study and read; to ride on a horse; +to work at one's livelihood. A sick man should take medicine when he +is breathing through his right nostril. To be breathing only through +the left nostril is propitious for the following undertakings: To lay +the foundations of a house and to take up residence in a new house; +to put on new clothes; to sow seed; to do service or found a village; +to make any purchase. The Jogis practise the art of breathing in this +manner by stopping up their right and left nostril alternately with +cotton-wool and breathing only through the other. If a man comes +to a Brahman to ask him whether some business or undertaking will +succeed, the Brahman breathes through his nostrils on to his hand; if +the breath comes through the right nostril the omen is favourable and +the answer yes; if through the left nostril the omen is unfavourable +and the answer no. + + + + +4. Self-torture of the Jogis. + +The following account of the austerities of the Jogis during the Mughal +period is given by Bernier: [201] "Among the vast number and endless +variety of Fakirs or Dervishes, and holy men or Gentile hypocrites +of the Indies, many live in a sort of convent, governed by superiors, +where vows of chastity, poverty, and submission are made. So strange +is the life led by these votaries that I doubt whether my description +of it will be credited. I allude particularly to the people called +'Jogis,' a name which signifies 'United to God.' Numbers are seen day +and night, seated or lying on ashes, entirely naked; frequently under +the large trees near talabs or tanks of water, or in the galleries +round the Deuras or idol temples. Some have hair hanging down to the +calf of the leg, twisted and entangled into knots, like the coats +of our shaggy dogs. I have seen several who hold one, and some who +hold both arms perpetually lifted above the head, the nails of their +hands being twisted and longer than half my little finger, with +which I measured them. Their arms are as small and thin as the arms +of persons who die in a decline, because in so forced and unnatural +a position they receive not sufficient nourishment, nor can they be +lowered so as to supply the mouth with food, the muscles having become +contracted, and the articulations dry and stiff. Novices wait upon +these fanatics and pay them the utmost respect, as persons endowed +with extraordinary sanctity. No fury in the infernal regions can be +conceived more horrible than the Jogis, with their naked and black +skin, long hair, spindle arms, long twisted nails, and fixed in the +posture which I have mentioned. + +"I have often met, generally in the territory of some Raja, bands of +these naked Fakirs, hideous to behold. Some have their arms lifted up +in the manner just described; the frightful hair of others either hung +loosely or was tied and twisted round their heads; some carried a club +like the Hercules, others had a dry and rough tiger-skin thrown over +their shoulders. In this trim I have seen them shamelessly walk stark +naked through a large town, men, women, and girls looking at them +without any more emotion than may be created when a hermit passes +through our streets. Females would often bring them alms with much +devotion, doubtless believing that they were holy personages, more +chaste and discreet than other men. + +"Several of these Fakirs undertake long pilgrimages not only naked +but laden with heavy iron chains, such as are put about the legs of +elephants. I have seen others who, in consequence of a particular +vow, stood upright during seven or eight days without once sitting +or lying down, and without any other support than might be afforded +by leaning forward against a cord for a few hours in the night; their +legs in the meantime were swollen to the size of their thighs. Others, +again, I have observed standing steadily, whole hours together, upon +their hands, the head down and the feet in the air. I might proceed +to enumerate various other positions in which these unhappy men place +their body, many of them so difficult and painful that they could not +be imitated by our tumblers; and all this, let it be recollected is +performed from an assumed feeling of piety, of which there is not so +much as the shadow in any part of the Indies." + + + + +5. Resort to them for oracles. + +The forest ascetics were credited with prophetic powers, and were +resorted to by Hindu princes to obtain omens and oracles on the brink +of any important undertaking. This custom is noticed by Colonel Tod +in the following passage describing the foundation of Jodhpur: [202] +"Like the Druids of the cells, the vana-perist Jogis, from the glades +of the forest (vana) or recess in the rocks (gopha), issue their +oracles to those whom chance or design may conduct to their solitary +dwellings. It is not surprising that the mandates of such beings prove +compulsory on the superstitious Rajput; we do not mean those squalid +ascetics who wander about India and are objects disgusting to the eye, +but the genuine Jogi, he who, as the term imports, mortifies the flesh, +till the wants of humanity are restricted merely to what suffices +to unite matter with spirit, who had studied and comprehended the +mystic works and pored over the systems of philosophy, until the full +influence of Maia (illusion) has perhaps unsettled his understanding; +or whom the rules of his sect have condemned to penance and solitude; +a penance so severe that we remain astonished at the perversity of +reason which can submit to it. We have seen one of these objects, +self-condemned never to lie down during forty years, and there remained +but three to complete the term. He had travelled much, was intelligent +and learned, but, far from having contracted the moroseness of the +recluse, there was a benignity of mien and a suavity and simplicity +of manner in him quite enchanting. He talked of his penance with +no vainglory and of its approaching term without any sensation. The +resting position of this Druid (vana-perist) was by means of a rope +suspended from the bough of a tree in the manner of a swing, having +a cross-bar, on which he reclined. The first years of this penance, +he says, were dreadfully painful; swollen limbs affected him to that +degree that he expected death, but this impression had long since +worn off. To these, the Druids of India, the prince and the chieftain +would resort for instruction. Such was the ascetic who recommended +Joda to erect his castle of Jodhpur on the 'Hill of Strife' (Jodagir), +a projecting elevation of the same range on which Mundore was placed, +and about four miles south of it." + + + + +6. Divisions of the order. + +About 15,000 Jogis were returned from the Central Provinces in +1911. They are said to be divided into twelve Panths or orders, each +of which venerates one of the twelve disciples of Gorakhnath. But, +as a rule, they do not know the names of the Panths. Their main +divisions are the Kanphata and Aughar Jogis. The Kanphatas, [203] +as the name denotes, pierce their ears and wear in them large rings +(mundra), generally of wood, stone or glass; the ears of a novice +are pierced by the Guru, who gets a fee of Rs. 1-4. The earring must +thereafter always be worn, and should it be broken must be replaced +temporarily by a model in cloth before food is taken. If after the +ring has been inserted the ear tears apart, they say that the man has +become useless, and in former times he was buried alive. Now he is +put out of caste, and no tomb is erected over him when he dies. It is +said that a man cannot become a Kanphata all at once, but must first +serve an apprenticeship of twelve years as an Aughar, and then if his +Guru is satisfied he will be initiated as a Kanphata. The elect among +the Kanphatas are known as Darshani. These do not go about begging, +but remain in the forest in a cave or other abode, and the other +Jogis go there and pay their respects; this is called darshan, the +term used for visiting a temple and worshipping the idol. These men +only have cooked food when their disciples bring it to them, otherwise +they live on fruits and roots. The Aughars do not pierce their ears, +but have a string of black sheep's wool round the neck to which is +suspended a wooden whistle called nadh; this is blown morning and +evening and before meals. [204] The names of the Kanphatas end in +Nath and those of the Aughars in Das. + + + + +7. Hair and clothes. + +When a novice is initiated all the hair of his head is shaved, +including the scalp-lock. If the Ganges is at hand the Guru throws the +hair into the Ganges, giving a great feast to celebrate the occasion; +otherwise he keeps the hair in his wallet until he and his disciple +reach the Ganges and then throws it into the river and gives the +feast. After this the Jogi lets all his hair grow until he comes to +some great shrine, when he shaves it off clean and gives it as an +offering to the god. The Jogis wear clothes coloured with red ochre +like the Jangams, Sanniasis and all the Sivite orders. The reddish +colour perhaps symbolises blood and may denote that the wearers +still sacrifice flesh and consume it. The Vaishnavite orders usually +wear white clothes, and hence the Jogis call themselves Lal Padris +(red priests), and they call the Vaishnava mendicants Sita Padris, +apparently because Sita is the consort of Rama, the incarnation of +Vishnu. When a Jogi is initiated the Guru gives him a single bead +of rudraksha wood which he wears on a string round his neck. He is +not branded, but afterwards, if he visits the temple of Dwarka in +Gujarat, he is branded with the mark of the conch-shell on the arm; +or if he goes on pilgrimage to the shrine of Badri-Narayan in the +Himalayas he is branded on the chest. Copper bangles are brought +from Badri-Narayan and iron ones from the shrine of Kedarnath. A +necklace of small white stones, like juari-seeds, is obtained from +the temple of Hinglaj in the territories of the Jam of Lasbela in +Beluchistan. During his twelve years' period as a Brahmachari or +acolyte, a Jogi will make either one or three parikramas of the +Nerbudda; that is, he walks from the mouth at Broach to the source +at Amarkantak on one side of the river and back again on the other +side, the journey usually occupying about three years. During each +journey he lets his hair grow and at the end of it makes an offering +of all except the choti or scalp-lock to the river. Even as a full +Jogi he still retains the scalp-lock, and this is not finally shaved +off until he turns into a Sanniasi or forest recluse. Other Jogis, +however, do not merely keep the scalp-lock but let their hair grow, +plaiting it with ropes of black wool over their heads into what is +called the jata, that is an imitation of Siva's matted locks. [205] + + + + +8. Burial. + +The Jogis are buried sitting cross-legged with the face to the north +in a tomb which has a recess like those of Muhammadans. A gourd full +of milk and some bread in a wallet, a crutch and one or two earthen +vessels are placed in the grave for the sustenance of the soul. Salt +is put on the body and a ball of wheat-flour is laid on the breast +of the corpse and then deposited on the top of the grave. + + + + +9. Festivals. + +The Jogis worship Siva, and their principal festival is the Shivratri, +when they stay awake all night and sing songs in honour of Gorakhnath, +the founder of their order. On the Nag-Panchmi day they venerate the +cobra and they take about snakes and exhibit them. + + + + +10. Caste subdivisions. + +A large proportion of the Jogis have now developed into a caste, +and these marry and have families. They are divided into subcastes +according to the different professions they have adopted. Thus the +Barwa or Garpagari Jogis ward off hailstorms from the standing crops; +the Manihari are pedlars and travel about to bazars selling various +small articles; the Ritha Bikanath prepare and sell soap-nut for +washing clothes; the Patbina make hempen thread and gunny-bags for +carrying grain on bullocks; and the Ladaimar hunt jackals and sell +and eat their flesh. These Jogis rank as a low Hindu caste of the +menial group. No good Hindu caste will take food or water from them, +while they will accept cooked food from members of any caste of +respectable position, as Kurmis, Kunbis or Malis. A person belonging +to any such caste can also be admitted into the Jogi community. Their +social customs resemble those of the cultivating castes of the +locality. They permit widow-marriage and divorce and employ Brahmans +for their ceremonies, with the exception of the Kanphatas, who have +priests of their own order. + + + + +11. Begging. + +Begging is the traditional occupation of the Jogis, but they have now +adopted many others. The Kanphatas beg and sell a woollen string amulet +(ganda), which is put round the necks of children to protect them +from the evil eye. They beg only from Hindus and use the cry 'Alakh,' +'The invisible one.' [206] The Nandia Jogis lead about with them a +deformed ox, an animal with five legs or some other malformation. He +is decorated with ochre-coloured rags and cowrie shells. They call +him Nandi or the bull on which Mahadeo rides, and receive gifts of +grain from pious Hindus, half of which they put into their wallet +and give the other half to the animal. They usually carry on a more +profitable business than other classes of beggars. The ox is trained +to give a blessing to the benevolent by shaking its head and raising +its leg when its master receives a gift. [207] Some of the Jogis of +this class carry about with them a brush of peacock's feathers which +they wave over the heads of children afflicted with the evil eye or +of sick persons, muttering texts. This performance is known as jharna +(sweeping), and is the commonest method of casting out evil spirits. + + + + +12. Other occupations. + +Many Jogis have also adopted secular occupations, as has already +been seen. Of these the principal are the Manihari Jogis or pedlars, +who retail small hand-mirrors, spangles, dyeing-powders, coral beads +and imitation jewellery, pens, pencils, and other small articles of +stationery. They also bring pearls and coral from Bombay and sell +them in the villages. The Garpagaris, who protect the crops from +hailstorms, have now become a distinct caste and are the subject of +a separate article. Others make a living by juggling and conjuring, +and in Saugor some Jogis perform the three-card trick in the village +markets, employing a confederate who advises customers to pick out +the wrong card. They also play the English game of Sandown, which +is known as 'Animur,' from the practice of calling out 'Any more' +as a warning to backers to place their money on the board before +beginning to turn the fish. + + + + +13. Swindling practices. + +These people also deal in ornaments of base metal and practise +other swindles. One of their tricks is to drop a ring or ornament +of counterfeit gold on the road. Then they watch until a stranger +picks it up and one of them goes up to him and says, "I saw you +pick up that gold ring, it belongs to so-and-so, but if you will +make it worth my while I will say nothing about it." The finder is +thus often deluded into giving him some hush-money and the Jogis +decamp with this, having incurred no risk in connection with the +spurious metal. They also pretend to be able to convert silver and +other metals into gold. They ingratiate themselves with the women, +sometimes of a number of households in one village or town, giving +at first small quantities of gold in exchange for silver, and binding +them to secrecy. Then each is told to give them all the ornaments which +she desires to be converted on the same night, and having collected as +much as possible from their dupes the Jogis make off before morning. A +very favourite device some years back was to personate some missing +member of a family who had gone on a pilgrimage. Up to within a +comparatively recent period a large proportion of the pilgrims who +set out annually from all over India to visit the famous shrines at +Benares, Jagannath and other places perished by the way from privation +or disease, or were robbed and murdered, and never heard of again by +their families. Many households in every town and village were thus +in the position of having an absent member of whose fate they were +uncertain. Taking advantage of this, and having obtained all the +information he could pick up among the neighbours, the Jogi would +suddenly appear in the character of the returned wanderer, and was +often successful in keeping up the imposture for years. [208] + + + + +14. Proverbs about Jogis. + +The Jogi is a familiar figure in the life of the people and there +are various sayings about him: [209] Jogi Jogi laren, khopron ka dam, +or 'When Jogis fight skulls are smashed,' that is, the skulls which +some of them use as begging-cups, not their own skulls, and with the +implication that they have nothing else to break; Jogi jugat jani +nahin, kapre range, to kya hua, 'If the Jogi does not know his magic, +what is the use of his dyeing his clothes?' Jogi ka larka khelega, to +sanp se, or, 'If a snake-charmer's son plays, he plays with a snake.' + + + + + + +JOSHI + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. The village priest and astrologer. + 2. The apparent path of the sun. The ecliptic or zodiac. + 3. Inclination of the ecliptic to the equator. + 4. The orbits of the moon and planets. + 5. The signs of the zodiac. + 6. The Sankrants. + 7. The nakshatras or constellations of the moon's path. + 8. The revolution of the moon. + 9. The days of the week. + 10. The lunar year. + 11. Intercalary months. + 12. Superstitions about numbers. + 13. The Hindu months. + 14. The solar nakshatras. + 15. Lunar fortnights and days. + 16. Divisions of the day. + 17. The Joshi's calculations. + 18. Personal names. + 19. Terminations of names. + 20. Women's names. + 21. Special names and bad names. + + + + +1. The village priest and astrologer. + +Joshi, Jyotishi, Bhadri, Parsai.--The caste of village priests +and astrologers. They numbered about 6000 persons in 1911, being +distributed over all Districts. The Joshis are nearly all Brahmans, +but have now developed into a separate caste and marry among +themselves. Their social customs resemble those of Brahmans, and +need not be described in detail. The Joshi officiates at weddings +in the village, selects auspicious names for children according to +the nakshatra or constellation of the moon under which they were +born, and points out the auspicious time or mahurat for all such +ceremonies and for the commencement of agricultural operations. He is +also sometimes in charge of the village temples. He is supported by +the contributions from the villagers, and often has a plot of land +rent-free from the proprietor. The social position of the Joshis is +not very good, and, though Brahmans, they are considered to rank +somewhat below the cultivating castes, the Kurmis and Kunbis, by +whose patronage they are supported. [210] + +The Bhadris are a class of Joshis who wander about and live by +begging, telling fortunes and giving omens. They avert the evil +influences of the planet Saturn and accept the gifts offered to +this end, which are always black, as black blankets, charcoal, +tilli or sesamum oil, the urad pulse, [211] and iron. People born on +Saturday or being otherwise connected with the planet are especially +subject to his malign influence. The Joshi ascertains who these +unfortunate persons are from their horoscopes, and neutralises the +evil influence of the planet by the acceptance of the gifts already +mentioned, while he sometimes also receives a buffalo or a cow. He +computes by astrological calculations the depth at which water will +be found when a cultivator wishes to dig a well. He also practises +palmistry, classifying the whorls of the fingers into two patterns, +called the Shank or conch-shell and Chakra or discus of Vishnu. The +Shank is considered to be unfortunate and the Chakra fortunate. The +lines on the balls of the toes and on the forehead are similarly +classified. When anything has been lost or stolen the Joshi can tell +from the daily nakshatra or mansion of the moon in which the loss or +theft occurred whether the property has gone to the north, south, east +or west, and within what interval it is likely to be found. The people +have not nowadays much faith in his prophetic powers, and they say, +"If clouds come on Friday, and the sky is black on Saturday, then the +Joshi foretells that it will rain on Sunday." The Joshi's calculations +are all based on the rashis or signs of the zodiac through which the +sun passes during the year, and the nakshatras or those which mark the +monthly revolutions of the moon. These are given in all Hindu almanacs, +and most Joshis simply work from the almanac, being quite ignorant of +astronomy. Since the measurement of the sun's apparent path on the +ecliptic, and the moon's orbit mapped out by the constellations are +of some interest, and govern the arrangement of the Hindu calendar, +it has been thought desirable to give some account of them. And in +order to make this intelligible it is desirable first to recapitulate +some elementary facts of astronomy. + + + + +2. The apparent path of the sun. The ecliptic or zodiac. + +The universe may be conceived for the purpose of understanding the +sun's path among the stars as if it were a huge ball, of which looking +from the earth's surface we see part of the inside with the stars +marked on it, as on the inside of a dome. This imaginary inside of a +ball is called the celestial sphere, and the ancients believed that +it actually existed, and also, in order to account for the varying +distances of the stars, supposed that there were several of them, one +inside the other, and each with a number of stars fixed to it. The +sun and earth may be conceived as smaller solid balls suspended +inside this large one. Then looking from the surface of the earth +we see the sun outlined against the inner surface of the imaginary +celestial sphere. And as the earth travels round the sun in its orbit, +the appearance to us is that the sun moves over the surface of the +celestial sphere. The following figure will make this clear. [212] + +Thus when the earth is at A in its orbit the sun will appear to be at +M, and as the earth travels from A to B the sun will appear to move +from M to N on the line of the ecliptic. It will be seen that as the +earth in a year makes a complete circuit round the sun, the sun will +appear to have made a complete circuit among the stars, and have come +back to its original position. This apparent movement is annual, and +has nothing to do with the sun's apparent diurnal course over the sky, +which is caused by the earth's daily rotation on its axis. The sun's +annual path among the stars naturally cannot be observed during the +day. Professor Newcomb says: "But the fact of the motion will be made +very clear if, day after day, we watch some particular fixed star +in the west. We shall find that it sets earlier and earlier every +day; in other words, it is getting continually nearer and nearer the +sun. More exactly, since the real direction of the star is unchanged, +the sun seems to be approaching the star. + +"If we could see the stars in the daytime all round the sun, the case +would be yet clearer. We should see that if the sun and a star were +together in the morning, the sun would, during the day, gradually +work past the star in an easterly direction. Between the rising +and setting it would move nearly its own diameter, relative to the +star. Next morning we should see that it had got quite away from the +star, being nearly two diameters distant from it. This motion would +continue month after month. At the end of the year the sun would have +made a complete circuit relative to the star, and we should see the +two once more together. This apparent motion of the sun in one year +round the celestial sphere was noticed by the ancients, who took +much trouble to map it out. They imagined a line passing round the +celestial sphere, which the sun always followed in its annual course, +and which was called the ecliptic. They noticed that the planets +followed nearly the same course as the sun among the stars. A belt +extending on each side of the ecliptic, and broad enough to contain +all the known planets, as well as the sun, was called the zodiac. It +was divided into twelve signs, each marked by a constellation. The sun +went through each sign in a month, and through all twelve signs in a +year. Thus arose the familiar signs of the zodiac, which bore the same +names as the constellations among which they are situated. This is not +the case at present, owing to the precession of the equinoxes." It +was by observing the paths of the sun and moon round the celestial +sphere along the zodiac that the ancients came to be able to measure +the solar and lunar months and years. + + + + +3. Inclination of the ecliptic to the equator. + +As is well known, the celestial sphere is imagined to be spanned +by an imaginary line called the celestial equator, which is in the +same plane as the earth's equator, and as it were, a vast concentric +circle. The points in the celestial sphere opposite the north and +south terrestrial poles are called the north and south celestial +poles, and the celestial equator is midway between these. Owing to the +special form of the earth the north celestial pole is visible to us +in the northern hemisphere, and marked very nearly by the pole-star, +its height above the horizon being equal to the latitude of the place +where the observer stands. Owing to the daily rotation of the earth +the whole celestial sphere seems to revolve daily on the axis of the +north and south celestial poles, carrying the sun, moon and stars +with it. To this the apparent daily course of the sun and moon is +due. Their course seems to us oblique, as we are north of the equator. + +If the earth's axis were set vertically to the plane of its orbit round +the sun, then it would follow that the plane of the equator would pass +through the centre of the sun, and that the line drawn by the sun in +its apparent revolution against the background of the celestial sphere +would be in the same plane. That is, the sun would seem to move round +a circle in the heavens in the same plane as the earth's equator, +or round the celestial equator. But the earth's axis is inclined at +23 1/2° to the plane of its orbit, and therefore the apparent path +traced by the sun in the celestial sphere, which is the same path as +the earth would really follow to an observer on the surface of the sun, +is inclined at 23 1/2° to the celestial equator. This is the ecliptic, +and is really the line of the plane of the earth's orbit extended to +cut the celestial sphere. + + + + +4. The orbits of the moon and planets. + +All the planets move round the sun in orbits whose planes are +slightly inclined to that of the earth, the plane of Mercury having +the greatest inclination of 6°. The plane of the moon's orbit round +the earth is also inclined at 5° 9' to the ecliptic. The orbits of +the moon and all the planets must necessarily intersect the plane of +the earth's orbit on the ecliptic at two points, and these are called +the nodes of the moon and each planet respectively. In consequence +of the inclination being so slight, though the course of the moon and +planets is not actually on the ecliptic, they are all so close to it +that they are included in the belt of the zodiac. Thus the moon and +all the planets follow almost the same apparent course on the zodiac +or belt round the ecliptic in the changes of position resulting from +their own and the earth's orbital movements with reference to what +are called the fixed stars. + + + + +5. The signs of the zodiac. + +As the sun completes his circuit of the ecliptic or zodiac in the +course of a year, it followed that if his course could be measured and +divided into periods, these periods would form divisions of time for +the year. This was what the ancients did, and it is probable that the +measurement and division of time was the primary object of the science +of astronomy, as apart from the natural curiosity to ascertain the +movements of the sun, moon and planets, when they were looked upon as +divine beings controlling the world. They divided the zodiac or the +path of the sun into twelve parts, and gave to each part the name of +the principal constellation situated on, or adjacent to, that section +of the line of the ecliptic. When they had done this and observed the +dates of the sun's entry into each sign or rashi, as it is called +in Hindi, they had divided the year into twelve solar months. The +following are the Hindu names and meanings of the signs of the zodiac: + + + 1. Aries. The ram. Mesha. + 2. Taurus. The bull. Vrisha. + 3. Gemini. The twins. Mithuna. + 4. Cancer. The crab. Karkati. + 5. Leo. The lion. Sinha. + 6. Virgo. The virgin. Kanya. + 7. Libra. The balance. Tula. + 8. Scorpio. The scorpion. Vrischika. + 9. Sagittarius. The archer. Dhanus or Chapa. + 10. Capricornus. The goat. Makara (said to mean a + sea-monster). + 11. Aquarius. The water-bearer. Kumbha (a water-pot). + 12. Pisces. The fishes. Mina. + + +The signs of the zodiac were nearly the same among the Greeks, +Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians and Indians. They are supposed +to have originated in Chaldea or Babylonia, and the fact that the +constellations are indicated by nearly the same symbols renders their +common origin probable. It seems likely that the existing Hindu zodiac +may have been adopted from the Greeks. + + + + +6. The Sankrants. + +The solar year begins with the entrance of the sun into Mesha or +Aries. [213] The day on which the sun passes into a new sign is +called Sankrant, and is to some extent observed as a holy day. But +the Til Sankrant or entry of the sun into Makara or Capricorn, which +falls about the 15th January, is a special festival, because it marks +approximately the commencement of the sun's northern progress and +the lengthening of the days, as Christmas roughly does with us. On +this day every Hindu who is able bathes in a sacred river at the hour +indicated by the Joshis of the sun's entrance into the sign. Presents +of til or sesamum are given to the Joshi, owing to which the day is +called Til Sankrant. People also sometimes give presents to each other. + + + + +7. The nakshatras or constellations of the moon's path. + +The Sankrants do not mark the commencement of the Hindu months, which +are still lunar and are adjusted to the solar year by intercalation. It +is probable that long before they were able to measure the sun's +progress along the ecliptic the ancients had observed that of the +moon, which it was much easier to do, as she is seen among the +stars at night. Similarly there is little reason to doubt that the +first division of time was the lunar month, which can be remarked by +every one. Ancient astronomers measured the progress of the moon's +path along the ecliptic and divided it into twenty-seven sections, +each of which represented roughly a day's march. Each section was +distinguished by a group of stars either on the ecliptic or so +near it, either in the northern or southern hemisphere, as to be +occultated by the moon or capable of being in conjunction with it or +the planets. These constellations are called nakshatras. Naturally, +some of these constellations are the same as those subsequently chosen +to mark the sun's path or the signs of the zodiac. In some cases a +zodiacal constellation is divided into two nakshatras. Like the signs, +the nakshatras were held to represent animals or natural objects. The +following is a list of them with their corresponding stars, and the +object which each was supposed to represent: [214] + + Nakshatra. Constellation. Object. Corresponding + zodiacal sign. + +1. Aswini. b and g Arietis. A horse's Aries. + head. +2. Bharani. 35, 39 and 41 Pudendum Aries. + Arietis. muliebre. +3. Krittika. Pleiades. A knife. Part of + Taurus. +4. Rohini. a, g, d, e, th A wheeled Taurus. + Tauri carriage or a + (Aldebaran). temple. +5. Mrigasiras. l, ph1, ph2, A deer's + Orionis (Orion's head. + head). +6. Ardra. Betelgeux or a A gem. + Orionis (one of + Orion's arms). +7. Punarvasu. Gemini or Castor A house. Gemini. + and Pollux. +8. Pushya. g, d and th An arrow. Cancer. + Cancri. +9. Aslesha. d, e, ê, r and s A wheel. + Hydrae. +10. Magha. a, g, e, z, ê and A house. Leo. + m Leonis. +11. Purva d and th Leonis. A couch. Leo. + Phalguni. +12. Uttara b and 93 Leonis. A bed. Leo. + Phalguni. +13. Hasta. a, b, g, d and e A hand. + Corvi. +14. Chitra. Spica (a A pearl. Virgo. + Virginis). +15. Swati. Arcturus (a A coral bead. + Boötis). +16. Visacha. a, b, g and i A garland. Libra. + Librae. +17. Anuradha. b, A sacrifice or Scorpio. + d and p offering. + Scorpionis. +18. Jyestha. a, s and t An earring. Scorpio. + Scorpionis. +19. Mula. e, z, ê, th, i, A lion's Scorpio. + k, l, m, y tail. + Scorpionis. +20. Purva d and e A couch or an Sagittarius. + Ashadha. Sagittarii. elephant's + tusk. +21. Uttara z and s An elephant's Sagittarius. + Ashadha. Sagittarii. tusk or the + singara nut. +22. Sravana. a, b and g The footprint + Aquilae. of Vishnu. +23. Dhanishtha. a, b, g and d A drum. + Delphinis. +24. Sata-bhishaj. l Aquarii. A circular Aquarius. + jewel or a + circle. +25. Purva a and b Pegasi. A two-faced + Bhadrapada. image. +26. Uttara g Pegasi and a A two-faced + Bhadrapada. Andromedae. image or a + couch. +27. Revati. z Piscium. A tabor. Pisces. + + + + +8. The revolution of the moon. + +All the zodiacal constellations are thus included in the +nakshatras except Capricorn, for which Aquila and Delphinis are +substituted. These, as well as Hydra, are a considerable distance +from the ecliptic, but may perhaps be nearer the moon's path, which, +as already seen, slightly diverges from it. But this point has not +been ascertained by me. The moon completes the circuit of the heavens +in its orbit round the earth in a little less than a lunar month or +27 days 8 hours. As twenty-seven nakshatras were demarcated, it seems +clear that a nakshatra was meant to represent the distance travelled +by the moon in a day. Subsequently a twenty-eighth small nakshatra +was formed called Abhijit, out of Uttarashadha and Sravana, and this +may have been meant to represent the fractional part of the day. The +days of the lunar month have each, as a matter of fact, a nakshatra +allotted to them, which is recorded in all Hindu almanacs, and enters +largely into the Joshi's astrological calculations. It may have been +the case that prior to the naming of the days of the week, the days of +the lunar month were distinguished by the names of their nakshatras, +but this could only have been among the learned. For though there +was a nakshatra for every day of the moon's path round the ecliptic, +the same days in successive months could not have the same nakshatras +on account of what is called the synodical revolution of the moon. The +light of the moon comes from the sun, and we see only that part of it +which is illuminated by the sun. When the moon is between the earth +and the sun, the light hemisphere is invisible to us, and there is +no moon. When the moon is on the opposite side of the earth to the +sun we see the whole of the illuminated hemisphere, and it is full +moon. Thus in the time between one new moon and the next, the moon +must proceed from its position between the earth and the sun to the +same position again, and to do this it has to go somewhat more than +once round the ecliptic, as is shown by the following figure. [215] + + + + +9. The days of the week. + +As during the moon's circuit of the earth, the earth is also travelling +on its orbit, the moon will not be between the earth and the sun again +on completion of its orbit, but will have to traverse the further arc +shown in the figure to come between the earth and the sun. When the +moon has completed the circle of the ecliptic from the position ME, +its position relative to the earth has become as NF and it has not yet +come between the earth and the sun. Hence while the moon completes the +circuit of the ecliptic [216] in 27 days 8 hours, the time from one new +moon to another is 29 days 13 hours. Hence the nakshatras will not fall +on the same days in successive lunar months, and would not be suitable +as names for the days. It seems that, recognising this, the ancient +astronomers had to find other names. They had the lunar fortnights of +14 or 15 days from new to full and full to new moon. Hence apparently +they hit on the plan of dividing these into half and regulating the +influence which the sun, moon and planets were believed to exercise +over events in the world by allotting one day to each of them. They +knew of five planets besides the sun and moon, and by giving a day to +each of them the seven-day week was formed. The term planet signifies +a wanderer, and it thus perhaps seemed suitable that they should give +their names to the days which would revolve endlessly in a cycle, +as they themselves did in the heavens. The names of the days are: + + + Etwar or Raviwar. Sunday. (Ravi--the sun.) + Somwar. Monday. (Soma--the moon.) + Mangalwar. Tuesday. (Mangal or Bhauma--Mars.) + Budhwar. Wednesday. (Buddha--Mercury.) + Brihaspatwar or Guru. Thursday. (Brihaspat or Guru--Jupiter.) + Shukurwar. Friday. (Shukra--Venus.) + Saniwar or Sanichara. Saturday. (Sani--Saturn.) + + +The termination vara means a day. The weekdays were similarly named in +Rome and other countries speaking Aryan languages, and they are readily +recognised in French. In English three days are named after the sun, +moon and Saturn, but four, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, +are called after Scandinavian deities, the last three being Woden or +Odin, Thor and Freya. I do not know whether these were identified with +the planets. It is supposed that the Hindus obtained the seven-day +week from the Greeks. [217] + + + + +10. The lunar year. + +Four seven-day weeks were within a day and a fraction of the lunar +month, which was the nearest that could be got. The first method of +measuring the year would be by twelve lunar months, which would bring +it back nearly to the same period. But as the lunar month is 29 days +13 hours, twelve months would be 354 days 12 hours, or nearly eleven +days less than the tropical solar year. Hence if the lunar year was +retained the months would move back round the year by about eleven days +annually. This is what actually happens in the Muhammadan calendar +where the twelve lunar months have been retained and the Muharram +and other festivals come earlier every year by about eleven days. + + + + +11. Intercalary months. + +In order to reconcile the lunar and solar years the Hindus hit upon +an ingenious device. It was ordained that any month in which the sun +did not enter a new sign of the zodiac would not count and would +be followed by another month of the same name. Thus in the month +of Chait the sun must enter the sign Mesha or Aries. If he does not +enter it during the lunar month there will be an intercalary Chait, +followed by the proper month of the same name during which the sun +will enter Mesha. [218] Such an intercalary month is called Adhika. An +intercalary month, obtained by having two successive lunar months +of the same name, occurs approximately once in three years, and by +this means the reckoning by twelve lunar months is adjusted to the +solar year. On the other hand, the sun very occasionally passes two +Sankrants or enters into two fresh signs during the lunar month. This +is rendered possible by the fact that the time occupied by the sun in +passing through different signs of the zodiac varies to some extent. It +is said that the zodiac was divided into twelve equal signs of 30° +each or 1° for each day, as at this period it was considered that the +year was 360 days. [219] Possibly in adjusting the signs to 365 odd +days some alterations may have been made in their length, or errors +discovered. At any rate, whatever may be the reason, the length of +the sun's periods in the signs, or of the solar months, varies from +31 days 14 hours to 29 days 8 hours. Three of the months are less +than the lunar month, and hence it is possible that two Sankrants or +passages of the sun into a fresh sign may occasionally occur in the +same lunar month. When this happens, following the same rule as before, +the month to which the second Sankrant properly belongs, that is the +one following that in which two Sankrants occur, is called a Kshaya +or eliminated month and is omitted from the calendar. Intercalary +months occur generally in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 16th and +18th years of a cycle of nineteen years, or seven times in nineteen +years. It is found that in each successive cycle only one or two +months are changed, so that the same month remains intercalary for +several cycles of nineteen years and then gives way generally to one +of the months preceding and rarely to the following month. Suppressed +months occur at intervals varying from 19 to 141 years, and in a year +when a suppressed month occurs there must always be one intercalary +month and not infrequently there are two. [220] + +This method of adjusting the solar and lunar years, though clumsy, +is so far scientific that the solar and lunar years are made to +agree without any artificial intercalation of days. It has, however, +the great disadvantages of the frequent intercalary month, and also +of the fact that the lunar months begin on different dates in the +English solar calendar, varying by nearly twenty days. + + + + +12. Superstitions about numbers. + +It seems not improbable that the unlucky character of the number +thirteen may have arisen from its being the number of the intercalary +month. Though the special superstition against sitting down thirteen +to a meal is, no doubt, associated particularly with the Last Supper, +the number is generally unlucky as a date and in other connections. And +this is not only the case in Europe, but the Hindus, Persians and +Parsis also consider thirteen an unlucky number; and the Muhammadans +account for a similar superstition by saying that Muhammad was ill for +the first thirteen days of the month Safar. Twelve, as being the number +of the months in the lunar and solar years, is an auspicious number; +thirteen would be one extra, and as being the intercalary month would +be here this year and missing next year. Hence it might be supposed +that one of thirteen persons met together would be gone at their +next meeting like the month. Similarly, the auspicious character of +the number seven may be due to its being the total of the sun, moon +and five planets, and of the days of the week named after them. And +the number three may have been invested with mystic significance as +representing the sun, moon and earth. In the Hindu Trinity Vishnu +and Siva are the sun and moon, and Brahma, who created the earth, +and has since remained quiescent, may have been the personified +representative of the earth itself. + + + + +13. The Hindu months. + +The names of the Hindu months were selected from among those of the +nakshatras, every second or third being taken and the most important +constellations apparently chosen. The following statement shows the +current names for the months, the nakshatras from which they are +derived, and the constellations they represent: + + + Month. Nakshatra. Constellation. + + 1. Chait. Chitra. Virgo. + 2. Baisakh. Visacha. Libra. + 3. Jeth. Jyestha. Scorpio. + 4. Asarh. Purva Ashadha. Sagittarius. + Uttara Ashadha. + 5. Shrawan. Sravana. Aquila. + 6. Bhadon. Purva (E) Bhadrapada. Pegasus. + Uttara (N) Bhadrapada. + 7. Kunwar or Aswini. Aries. + Aswin. + 8. Kartik. Krittika. Pleiades (Part + of Taurus). + 9. Aghan or Mrigasiras. Orion. + Margashir. + 10. Pus. Pushya. Cancer. + 11. Magh. Magha. Leo. + 12. Phagun. Purva (E) Phalguni. Leo. + Uttara (N) Phalguni. + + +Thus if the Pleiades are reckoned as part of Taurus, [221] eight +zodiacal signs give their names to months as well as Orion, Pegasus +and Aquila, while two months are included in Leo. It appears that +in former times the year began with Pus or December, as the month +Margashir was also called Aghan or Agrahana, or 'That which went +before,' that is the month before the new year. But the renewal +of vegetation in the spring has exercised a very powerful effect +on the primitive mind, being marked by the Holi festival in India, +corresponding to the Carnival in Europe. The vernal equinox was thus +perhaps selected as the most important occasion and the best date +for beginning the new year, which now commences in northern India +with the new moon of Chait, immediately following the Holi festival, +when the sun is in the sign of Mesha or Aries. At first the months +appear to have travelled round the year, but subsequently they were +fixed by ordaining that the month of Chait should begin with the new +moon during the course of which the sun entered the sign Aries. [222] +The constellation Chitra, from which the sign is named, is nearly +opposite to this in the zodiac, as shown by the above figure. [223] + +Consequently, the full moon, being nearly opposite the sun on the +ecliptic, would be in the sign Chitra or near it. In southern India +the months begin with the full moon, but in northern India with the +new moon; it seems possible that the months were called after the +nakshatra, of the full moon to distinguish them from the solar months +which would be called after the sign of the zodiac in which the sun +was. But no authoritative explanation seems to be available. Similarly, +the nakshatras after which the other months are named, fall nearly +opposite to them at the new moon, while the full moon would be in or +near them. + + + + +14. The solar nakshatras. + +The periods during which the sun passes through each nakshatra are +also recorded, and they are of course constant in date like the +solar months. As there are twenty-seven nakshatras, the average time +spent by the sun in each is about 13 1/2 days. These periods are +well known to the people as they have the advantage of not varying +in date like the lunar months, while over most of India the solar +months are not used. The commencement of the various agricultural +operations is dated by the solar nakshatras, and there are several +proverbs about them in connection with the crops. The following are +some examples: "If it does not rain in Pushya and Punarvasu Nakshatras +the children of Nimar will go without food." 'Rain in Magha Nakshatra +(end of August) is like food given by a mother,' because it is so +beneficial. "If there is no wind in Mrigasiras (beginning of June), +and no heat in Rohini (end of May), sell your plough-cattle and go +and look for work." 'If it rains during Uttara (end of September) +dogs will turn up their noses at grain,' because the harvest will +be so abundant. "If it rains during Aslesha (first half of August) +the wheat-stalks will be as stout as drum-sticks" (because the land +will be well ploughed). 'If rain falls in Chitra or Swati Nakshatras +(October) there won't be enough cotton for lamp-wicks.' + + + + +15. Lunar fortnights and days. + +The lunar month was divided into two fortnights called paksha or +wing. The period of the waxing moon was known as sukla or sudi paksha, +that is the light fortnight, and that of the waning moon as krishna +or budi paksha, that is the dark fortnight. + +Each lunar month was also divided into thirty equal periods, called +tithis or lunar days. Since there are less than thirty days in the +lunar month, a tithi does not correspond to an ordinary day, but +begins and ends at odd hours of the day. Nevertheless the tithis +are printed in all almanacs, and are used for the calculation of +auspicious moments. [224] + + + + +16. Divisions of the day. + +The day is divided for ordinary purposes of measuring time into +eight pahars or watches, four of the day and four of the night; +and into sixty gharis or periods of twenty-four minutes each. The +pahars, however, are not of equal length. At the equinox the first +and fourth pahar of the day and night each contain eight gharis, +and the two middle ones seven gharis. In summer the first and fourth +pahars of the day contain nine gharis each, and the two middle ones +eight each, while the first and fourth pahars of the night contain +seven and the two middle ones six each. Thus in summer the four day +pahars contain 13 hours 36 minutes and the night ones 10 hours 24 +minutes. And in winter the exact opposite is the case, the night +pahars being lengthened and the day ones shortened in precisely +the same manner. No more unsatisfactory measure of time could well +be devised. The termination of the second watch or do pahar always +corresponds with midday and midnight respectively. + +The apparatus with which the hours were measured and announced +consisted of a shallow metal pan, named from its office, gharial, +and suspended so as to be easily struck with a wooden mallet by the +ghariali. He measured the passing of a ghari by an empty thin brass +cup or katori, perforated at the bottom, and placed on the surface +of a large vessel filled with water, where nothing could disturb it; +the water came through the small hole in the bottom of the cup and +filled it, causing it to sink in the period of one ghari. At the +expiration of each ghari the gharial struck its number from one to +nine with a mallet on a brass plate, and at the end of each pahar +he struck a gujar or eight strokes to announce the fact, followed +by one to four hollow-sounding strokes to indicate the number of +the pahar. This custom is still preserved in the method by which the +police-guards of the public offices announce the hours on a gong and +subsequently strike four, eight and twelve strokes to proclaim these +hours of the day and night by our clock. Only rich men could afford +to maintain a gharial, as four persons were required to attend to it +during the day and four at night. [225] + + + + +17. The Joshi's calculations. + +The Joshi calculates auspicious [226] seasons by a consideration of the +sun's zodiacal sign, the moon's nakshatra or daily mansion, and other +rules. From the monthly zodiacal signs and daily nakshatras in which +children are born, as recorded in their horoscopes, he calculates +whether their marriage will be auspicious. Thus the zodiacal signs +are supposed to be divided among the four castes, Pisces, Cancer and +Scorpio belonging to the Brahman; Aries, Leo and Sagittarius to the +Kshatriya; Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn to the Vaishya; and Gemini, +Libra and Aquarius to the Sudra. If the boy and girl were born under +any of the three signs of the same caste it is a happy conjunction. If +the boy's sign was of a caste superior to the girl's, it is suitable, +but if the girl's sign is of a superior caste to the boy's it is an +omen that she will rule the household; and though the marriage may +take place, certain ceremonies should be performed to obviate this +effect. There is also a division of the zodiacal signs according +to their nature. Thus Virgo, Libra, Gemini, Aquarius and half of +Sagittarius are considered to be of the nature of man, or formed by +him; Aries, Taurus, half of Sagittarius and half of Capricorn are of +the nature of animals; Cancer, Pisces and half of Capricorn are of +a watery nature; Leo is of the desert or wild nature; and Scorpio +is of the nature of insects. If the boy and girl were both born +under signs of the same nature their marriage will be auspicious, +but if they were born under signs of different natures, they will +share only half the blessings and comforts of the marriage state, +and may be visited by strife, enmity, misery or distress. As Leo and +Scorpio are looked upon as being enemies, evil consequences are much +dreaded from the marriage of a couple born under these signs. There +are also numerous rules regarding the nakshatras or mansions of the +moon and days of the week under which the boy and girl were born, +but these need not be reproduced. If on the day of the wedding the +sun or any of the planets passes from one zodiacal sign to another, +the wedding must be delayed for a certain number of gharis or periods +of twenty-four minutes, the number varying for each planet. The hours +of the day are severally appointed to the seven planets and the twelve +zodiacal signs, and the period of ascendancy of a sign is known as +lagan; this name is also given to the paper specifying the day and +hour which have been calculated as auspicious for the wedding. It +is stated that no weddings should be celebrated during the period of +occultation of the planets Jupiter and Venus, nor on the day before +new moon, nor the Sankrant or day on which the sun passes from one +zodiacal sign to another, nor in the Singhast year, when the planet +Jupiter is in the constellation Leo. This takes place once in twelve +years. Marriages are usually prohibited during the four months of +the rainy season, and sometimes also in Pus, Jeth or other months. + + + + +18. Personal names. + +The Joshi names children according to the moon's daily nakshatra +under which they were born, each nakshatra having a letter or certain +syllables allotted to it with which the name must begin. Thus Magha +has the syllables Ma, Mi, Mu and Me, with which the name should begin, +as Mansaram, Mithu Lal, Mukund Singh, Meghnath; Purwa Phalguni has Mo +and Te, as Moji Lal and Tegi Lal; Punarvasu has Ke, Ko, Ha and Hi, +as Kesho Rao, Koshal Prasad, Hardyal and Hira Lal, and so on. The +primitive idea connecting a name with the thing or person to which it +belongs is that the name is actually a concrete part of the person or +object, containing part of his life, just as the hair, nails and all +the body are believed to contain part of the life, which is not at +first localised in any part of the body nor conceived of as separate +from it. The primitive mind could conceive no abstract idea, that is +nothing that could not be seen or heard, and it could not think of +a name as an abstract appellation. The name was thought of as part +of that to which it was applied. Thus, if one knew a man's name, it +was thought that one could use it to injure him, just as if one had a +piece of his hair or nails he could be injured through them because +they all contained part of his life; and if a part of the life was +injured or destroyed the remainder would also suffer injury, just as +the whole body might perish if a limb was cut off. For this reason +savages often conceal their real names, so as to prevent an enemy from +obtaining power to injure them through its knowledge. By a development +of the same belief it was thought that the names of gods and saints +contained part of the divine life and potency of the god or saint to +whom they were applied. And even separated from the original owner the +name retained that virtue which it had acquired in association; hence +the power assigned to the names of gods and superhuman beings when used +in spells and incantations. Similarly, if the name of a god or saint +was given to a child it was thought that some part of the nature and +virtue of the god might be conferred on the child. Thus Hindu children +are most commonly named after gods and goddesses under the influence +of this idea; and though the belief may now have decayed the practice +continues. Similarly the common Muhammadan names are epithets of Allah +or god or of the Prophet and his relations. Jewish children are named +after the Jewish patriarchs. In European countries the most common +male names are those of the Apostles, as John, Peter, James, Paul, +Simon, Andrew and Thomas; and the names of the Evangelists were, until +recently, also given. The most common girl's name in several European +countries is Mary, and a generation or two ago other Biblical names, +as Sarah, Hannah, Ruth, Rachel, and so on, were very usually given +to girls. In England the names next in favour for boys and girls +are those of kings and queens, and the same idea perhaps originally +underlay the application of these names. The following are some of +the best-known Hindu names, taken from those of gods:-- + + +Names of Vishnu. + + Narayan. Probably 'The abode of mortals,' or else 'He who dwelt + on the waters (before creation)'; now applied to the sun. + Waman. The dwarf, one of Vishnu's incarnations. + Janardan. Said to mean protector of the people. + Narsingh. The man-lion, one of Vishnu's incarnations. + Hari. Yellow or gold-colour or green. Perhaps applied to the sun. + Parashram. From Parasurama or Rama with the axe, one of the + incarnations of Vishnu. + Gadadhar. Wielder of the club or gada. + Jagannath. Lord of the world. + Dinkar. The sun, or he who makes the days (din karna). + Bhagwan. The fortunate or illustrious. + Anant. The infinite or eternal. + Madhosudan. Destroyer of the demon Madho (Madho means honey + or wine). + Pandurang. Yellow-coloured. + + +Names of Rama, or Vishnu's Great Incarnation as King Rama of Ayodhia. + + Ramchandra, the moon of Rama, and Rambaksh, the gift of Rama, + are the commonest Hindu male names. + Atmaram. Soul of Rama. + Sitaram. Rama and Sita his wife. + Ramcharan. The footprint of Rama. + Sakharam. The friend of Rama. + Sewaram. Servant of Rama. + + +Names of Krishna. + + Krishna and its diminutive Kishen are very common names. + Kanhaiya. A synonym for Krishna. + Damodar. Because his mother tied him with a rope to a large tree + to keep him quiet and he pulled up the tree, roots and all. + Balkishen. The boy Krishna. + Ghansiam. The dark-coloured or black one (like dark clouds); + probably referring to the belief that Krishna belonged to the + non-Aryan races. + Madan Mohan. The enchanter of love. + Manohar. The heart-stealer. + Yeshwant. The glorious. + Kesho. Having long, fine hair. A name of Krishna. Also the + destroyer of the demon Keshi, who was covered with hair. It would + appear that the epithet was first applied to Krishna himself and + afterwards to a demon whom he was supposed to have destroyed. + Balwant. Strong. An epithet of Krishna, used in conjunction with + other names. + Madhava. Honey-sweet or belonging to the spring, vernal. + Girdhari. He who held up the mountain. Krishna held up the mountain + Govardhan, balancing the peak on his finger to protect the people + from the destructive rains sent by Indra. + Shiamsundar. The dark and beautiful one. + Nandkishore, Nandkumar. Child of Nand the cowherd, Krishna's + foster-father. + + +Names of Siva. + + Sadasheo. Siva the everlasting. + Mahadeo. The great god. + Trimbak. The three-eyed one (?). + Gangadhar. The holder of the Ganges, because it flows from + Siva's hair. + Kashinath. The lord of Benares. + Kedarnath. The lord of cedars (referring to the pine-forests of + the Himalayas). + Nilkanth. The blue-jay sacred to Siva. Name of Siva because his + throat is bluish-black either from swallowing poison at the time + of the churning of the ocean or from drinking large quantities + of bhang. + Shankar. He who gives happiness. + Vishwanath. Lord of the universe. + Sheo Prasad. Gift of Siva. + + +Names of Ganpati or Ganesh. + + Ganpati is itself a very common name. + Vidhyadhar. The lord of learning. + Vinayak. The remover of difficulties. + Ganesh Prasad. Gift of Ganesh. A child born on the fourth day of + any month will often be given this name, as Ganesh was born on + the 4th Bhadon (August). + + +Names of Hanuman. + + Hanuman itself is a very common name. + Maroti, son of Marut the god of the wind. + Mahavira or Mahabir. The strong one. + + +Other common sacred names are: Amrit, the divine nectar, and Moreshwar, +lord of the peacock, perhaps an epithet of the god Kartikeya. Men +are also often named after jewels, as: Hira Lal, diamond; Panna Lal, +emerald; Ratan Lal, a jewel; Kundan Lal, fine gold. A child born +on the day of full moon may be called Puran Chand, which means full +moon. There are of course many other male names, but those here given +are the commonest. Children are also frequently named after the day +or month in which they were born. + + + + +19. Terminations of names. + +Common terminations of male names are: Charan, footprint; Das, slave; +Prasad, food offered to a god; Lal, dear; Datta, gift, commonly used +by Maithil Brahmans; Din or Baksh, which also means gift; Nath, +lord of; and Dulare, dear to. These are combined with the names +of gods, as: Kalicharan, footprint of Kali; Ram Prasad or Kishen +Prasad, an offering to Rama or Krishna; Bishen Lal, dear to Vishnu; +Ganesh Datta, a gift from Ganesh; Ganga Din, a gift from the Ganges; +Sheo Dulare, dear to Siva; Vishwanath, lord of the universe. Boys +are sometimes given the names of goddesses with such terminations, +as Lachmi or Janki Prasad, an offering to these goddesses. A child +born on the 8th of light Chait (April) will be called Durga Prasad, +as this day is sacred to the goddess Durga or Devi. + + + + +20. Women's names. + +Women are also frequently named after goddesses, as: Parvati, the +consort of Siva; Sita, the wife of Rama; Janki, apparently another name +for Sita; Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, and the goddess of wealth; +Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom; Radha, the beloved of Krishna; +Dasoda, the foster-mother of Krishna; Dewaki, who is supposed to +have been the real mother of Krishna; Durga, another name for Siva's +consort; Devi, the same as Durga and the earth-goddess; Rukhmini, the +bright or shining one, a consort of Vishnu; and Tulsi, the basil-plant, +sacred to Vishnu. + +Women are also named after the sacred rivers, as: Ganga, Jamni or +Yamuni (Jumna); Gomti, the river on which Lucknow stands; Godha or +Gautam, after the Godavari river; and Bhagirathi, another name for +the Ganges. The river Nerbudda is commonly found as a man's name, +especially in places situated on its banks. Other names of women are: +Sona, gold; Puna, born at the full moon; Manohra, enchanting; Kamala, +the lotus; Indumati, a moonlight night; Sumati, well-minded; Sushila, +well-intentioned; Srimati, wealthy; Amrita, nectar; Phulwa, a flower; +Imlia, the tamarind; Malta, jasmine; and so on. + +If a girl is born after four sons she will be called Pancho or fifth, +and one born in the unlucky Mul Nakshatra is called Mulia. When a +girl is married and goes to her husband's house her name is always +changed there. If two girls have been married into the household, +they may be called Bari Bohu and Choti Bohu, or the elder and younger +daughters-in-law; or a girl may be called after the place from which +she comes, as Jabalpurwali, Raipurwali, and so on. + + + + +21. Special names and bad names. + +The higher castes have two names, one given by the Joshi, which +is called rashi-ka-nam or the ceremonial name, rashi meaning the +Nakshatra or moon's daily mansion under which the child was born. This +is kept secret and only used in marriage and other ceremonies, +though the practice is now tending to decay. The other is the chaltu +or current name, and may either be a second ordinary name, such as +those already given, or it may be taken from some peculiarity of the +child. Names of the latter class are: Bhura, brown; Putro, a doll, +given to a pretty child; Dukali, born in famine-time; Mahinga, dear +or expensive; Chhota, little; Babu, equivalent to little prince or +noble; Papa, father; Kakku, born in the cucumber season; Lada, pet; +Pattu, a somersault; Judawan, cooling, and so on. Bad names are also +given to avert ill-luck and remove the enmity of the spirits hostile to +children, if the mother's previous babies have been lost. Instances of +these are Raisa, short in stature; Lula, having a maimed arm; Ghasita, +dragged along on a board; Damru, bought for a farthing; Khairati, alms; +Dukhi, pain; Kubra, hunch-back; Gudri, rag; Kana, one-eyed; Birla, thin +or lean; Bisahu, bought or purchased; and Bulaki and Chedi, having a +pierced nostril; these names are given to a boy whose nostril has been +pierced to make him resemble a girl and thus decrease his value. [227] +Further instances of such names have been given in other articles. + + + + + + +Julaha + + +Julaha, Momin.--A low Muhammadan caste of weavers resident mainly in +Saugor and Burhanpur. They numbered about 4000 persons in 1911. In +Nagpur District the Muhammadan weavers generally call themselves +Momin, a word meaning 'orthodox.' In northern India and Bengal +Julahas are very numerous and the bulk of them are probably converted +Hindus. Mr. (Sir Denzil) Ibbetson remarks: "We find Koli-Julahas, +Chamar-Julahas, Morhi-Julahas, Ramdasi-Julahas, and so forth; and +it is probable that after a few generations these men will drop the +prefix which denotes their low origin and become Julahas pure and +simple." [228] The Julahas claim Adam as the founder of their craft, +inasmuch as when Satan made him realise his nakedness he taught +the art of weaving to his sons. And they say that their ancestors +came from Arabia. In Nimar the Julahas or Momins assert that they +do not permit outsiders to be admitted as members of the caste, but +the accuracy of this is doubtful, while in Saugor any Muhammadan who +wishes to do so may become a Julaha. They follow the Muhammadan laws +of marriage and inheritance. Unions between relatives are favoured, +but a man may not marry his sister, niece, aunt or foster-sister. The +Julaha or Momin women observe no purda, and are said to be almost +unique among Muhammadans in this respect. + +"The Musalman [229] weaver or Julaha," Sir G. Grierson writes, +"is the proverbial fool of Hindu stories and proverbs. He swims in +the moonlight across fields of flowering linseed, thinking the blue +colour to be caused by water. He hears his family priest reading the +Koran, and bursts into tears to the gratification of the reader. When +pressed to tell what part affected him most, he says it was not that, +but that the wagging beard of the old gentleman so much reminded +him of a favourite goat of his which had died. When forming one of a +company of twelve he tries to count them and finding himself missing +wants to perform his own funeral obsequies. He finds the rear peg of +a plough and wants to set up farming on the strength of it. He gets +into a boat at night and forgets to pull up the anchor. After rowing +till dawn he finds himself where he started, and concludes that the +only explanation is that his native village could not bear to lose him +and has followed him. If there are eight weavers and nine huqqas, they +fight for the odd one. Once on a time a crow carried off to the roof of +the house some bread which a weaver had given his child. Before giving +the child any more he took the precaution of removing the ladder. Like +the English fool he always gets unmerited blows. For instance, he once +went to see a ram-fight and got butted himself, as the saying runs: + + + Karigah chhor tamasa jay + Nahak chot Julaha khay. + + +'He left his loom to see the fun and for no reason got a +bruising.' Another story (told by Fallon) is that being told by a +soothsayer that it was written in his fate that his nose would be +cut off with an axe, the weaver was incredulous and taking up an axe, +kept flourishing it, saying-- + + + Yon karba ta gor katbon + Yon karba ta hath katbon + Aur yon karba tab na---- + + +'If I do so I cut off my leg, if I do so I cut off my hand, but +unless I do so my no----,' and his nose was off. Another proverb +Julaha janathi jo katai, 'Does a weaver know how to cut barley,' +refers to a story (in Fallon) that a weaver unable to pay his debt +was set to cut barley by his creditor, who thought to repay himself +in this way. But instead of reaping, the stupid fellow kept trying to +untwist the tangled barley stems. Other proverbs at his expense are; +'The Julaha went out to cut the grass at sunset, when even the crows +were going home.' 'The Julaha's brains are in his backside.' His wife +bears an equally bad character, as in the proverb: 'A wilful Julahin +will pull her own father's beard.'" + + + + + + +Kachera + + +1. Origin of the caste. + +Kachera, [230] Kachara (from kanch, glass).--The functional caste of +makers of glass bangles. The Kacheras numbered 2800 persons in the +Central Provinces in 1911, of whom 1800 were found in the Jubbulpore +District. The caste say that in former times glass bangles were made +only by Turk or Muhammadan Kacheras. The present name of Turkari is +probably derived from Turk. But when Gauri Parvati was to be married +to Mahadeo, she refused to wear the bangles made by a Turkari. So +Mahadeo constructed a vedi or furnace, and from this sprang the first +Hindu Kachera, who was employed to make bangles for Parvati. A later +variant of the legend, having a sufficiently obvious deduction, is +that Mahadeo did not create a man, but caught hold of a Kshatriya +who happened to be present and ordered him to make the bangles. His +descendants followed the new profession and thus came to be known +as Kacheras. It is a possible conclusion from the story that the +art of making glass bangles was introduced by the Muhammadans and, +as suggested in the article on Lakhera, it may be the case that Hindu +women formerly wore ornaments made of lac. + + + + +2. Exogamous groups. + +The exogamous sections of the Kacheras show that the caste is of +very mixed origin. Several of them are named after other castes, +as Bharia (forest tribe), Gadaria (shepherd), Sunar, Naua (Nai), +Thakurel (Thakur or Rajput), Kachhwaha and Chauhan (septs of Rajputs), +and Kuria or Kori (weaver), and indicate that members of these castes +took to the profession of bangle-making and became Kacheras. It may be +surmised that, in the first instance perhaps, when the objection to +using the product of the Muhammadan workman arose, if the theory of +the prior use of lac bangles be correct, members of different castes +took to supplying bangles for their own community, and from these +in the course of time the Kachera caste was developed. Other names +of sections worth mentioning are Jharraha, one who frets or worries; +Kharraha, a choleric person; Dukesha, one who carries a begging-bowl; +Thuthel, a maimed man, and Khajha, one suffering from the itch. + + + + +3. Social customs. + +The exogamous sections are known as baink. The marriage of persons +belonging to the same section and of first cousins is forbidden. Girls +are generally married at an early age, as there is a scarcity of +women in the caste, and they are snapped up as soon as available. As a +natural consequence a considerable bride-price is paid, and the desire +of the Kachera to make a profit by the marriage of his daughter +is ridiculed in the following saying, supposed to be his prayer: +"O God, give me a daughter. In exchange for her I shall get a pair +of bullocks and a potful of rupees, and I shall be rich for the +rest of my life. As her dowry I shall give her a sickle, a hoe and a +spinning-machine, and these will suffice for my daughter to earn her +livelihood." The usual sum paid for a girl is Rs. 50. The marriage +ceremony is performed by walking round the sacred pole, and after it +the couple try their strength against each other, the bride trying to +push a stone pestle on to a slab with her foot and the groom pushing +it off with his. At the end of the wedding an omen is taken, a silver +ornament known as dhal [231] which women wear in the ear being fixed on +to a wall and milk poured over it. If the ornament is displaced by the +stream of milk and falls down, it is considered that the union will +be a happy one. The proceeding perhaps symbolises roughly the birth +of a child. The marriage of widows is permitted, and in consequence +of the scarcity of women the widow is usually married to her late +husband's younger brother, if there be one, even though he may be only +a child. Divorce is permitted. Liaisons within the caste are usually +overlooked, but a woman going wrong with an outsider is expelled +from the community. The Kacheras commonly burn the dead. They employ +Brahmans for ceremonial purposes, but their social status is low and +no high caste will take water from them. They eat flesh and fish, and +some of them drink liquor, while others have given it up. They have +a caste committee or panchayat for the punishment of social offences, +which is headed by officials known as Malik and Diwan. Their favourite +deity is Devi, and in her honour they sow the Jawaras or pots of wheat +corresponding to the gardens of Adonis during the nine days prior to +the Ramnaomi and Dasahra festivals in March and September. Some of +them carry their devotion so far as to grow the plants of wheat on +their bodies, sitting in one posture for nine days and almost giving +up food and drink. At the Diwali festival they worship the furnace +in which glass bangles are made. + + + + +4. Occupation. + +The traditional occupation of the caste is the manufacture of glass +bangles. They import the glass in lumps from northern India and melt +it in their furnace, after which the colouring matter is applied and +the ring is turned on a slab of stone. Nearly all Hindu married women +have glass bangles, which are broken or removed if their husbands +die. But the rule is not universal, and some castes do not wear them +at all. Marwari women have bangles of ivory, and Dhangar (shepherd) +women of cocoanut-shell. Women of several castes who engage in +labour have glass bangles only on the left wrist and metal ones on +the right, as the former are too fragile. Low-caste women sometimes +wear the flat, black bangles known as khagga on the upper arm. In +many castes the glass bangles are also broken after the birth of a +child. Bangles of many colours are made, but Hindus usually prefer +black or indigo-blue. Among Hindus of good caste a girl may wear +green bangles while she is unmarried; at her wedding black bangles +are put on her wrists, and thereafter she may have them of black, +blue, red or yellow, but not green. Muhammadans usually wear black +or dark-green bangles. A Hindu woman has the same number of bangles +on each wrist, not less than five and more if she likes. She will +never leave her arms entirely without bangles, as she thinks this +would cause her to become a widow. Consequently when a new set are +purchased one or two of the old ones are kept on each arm. Similarly +among castes who wear lac bangles like Banjaras, five should be worn, +and these cover the greater part of the space between the wrist and +the elbow. The men of the caste usually stay at home and make the +bangles, and the women travel about to the different village markets, +carrying their wares on little ponies if they can afford them. It is +necessary that the seller of bangles should be a woman, as she has +to assist her customers to work them on to their wrists, and also +display her goods to high-caste women behind the purda in their homes. + +The Kacheras' bangles are very cheap, from two to fourteen being +obtainable for a pice (farthing), according to quality. Many are +also broken, and the seller has to bear the loss of all those broken +when the purchaser is putting them on, which may amount to 30 per +cent. And though an improvement on the old lac bangles, the colours +are very dull, and bracelets of better and more transparent glass +imported from Austria now find a large sale and tend to oust the +indigenous product. The Kachera, therefore, is, as a rule, far from +prosperous. The incessant bending over the furnace tends to undermine +his constitution and often ruins his eyesight. There is in fact a Hindi +saying to the effect that, "When the Kachera has a son the rejoicings +are held in the Kundera's (turner's) house. For he will go blind and +then he will find nothing else to do but turn the Kundera's lathe." + + + + + + +KACHHI + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. General notice. + 2. Subdivisions. + 3. Marriage customs. + 4. Child-birth. + 5. Ear-piercing. + 6. Disposal of the dead. + + + + +1. General notice. + +Kachhi.--An important cultivating caste of the northern Districts, +who grow vegetables and irrigated crops requiring intensive +cultivation. The distinction between the Kachhis and Malis of the +Hindustani Districts is that the former grow regular irrigated +crops, while the latter confine their operations to vegetables and +flower-gardens; whereas the Mali or Marar of the Maratha country is +both a cultivator and a gardener. The Kachhis numbered about 120,000 +persons in 1911, and resided mainly in the Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore +and Narsinghpur Districts. The word Kachhi may be derived from kachhar, +the name given to the alluvial land lying on river banks, which they +greatly affect for growing their vegetables. Another derivation is +from kachhni, a term used for the process of collecting the opium from +the capsules of the poppy. [232] The caste are probably an offshoot of +the Kurmis. Owing to the resemblance of names they claim a connection +with the Kachhwaha sept of Rajputs, but this is not at all probable. + + + + +2. Subdivisions. + +The caste is divided into a number of subcastes, most of which take +their names from special plants which they grow. Thus the Hardia +Kachhis grow haldi or turmeric; the Alias cultivate the al or Indian +madder, from which the well-known red dye is obtained; the Phulias are +flower-gardeners; the Jirias take their name from jira or cumin; the +Murai or Murao Kachhis are called after the muli or radish; the Pirias +take their name from the piria or basket in which they carry earth; +the Sanias grow san or hemp; the Mor Kachhis are those who prepare the +maur or marriage-crown for weddings; and the Lilia subcaste are called +after the indigo plant (il or nil). In some localities they have a +subcaste called Kachhwahi, who are considered to have a connection +with the Rajputs and to rank higher than the others. + + + + +3. Marriage customs. + +The social customs of the Kachhis resemble those of the Kurmis. The +descendants of the same parents do not intermarry for three +generations. A man may have two sisters to wife at the same time. In +the Damoh District, on the arrival of the bridegroom's party, the +bride is brought into the marriage-shed, and is there stripped to the +waist while she holds a leaf-cup in her hand; this is probably done +so that the bridegroom may see that the bride is free from any bodily +defect. Girls are usually married before they are ten years old, and +if the parents are too poor to arrange a match for their daughter, +the caste-fellows often raise a subscription when she attains this +age and get her married. The bridegroom should always be older +than the bride, and the difference is generally from five to ten +years. The bridegroom wears a loin-cloth and long coat reaching to +the ground, both of which are stained yellow with turmeric; the bride +wears a red cloth or one in which red is the main colour. The girl's +father gives her a dowry of a cow or jewels, or at least two rupees; +while the boy's father pays all the expenses of the wedding with the +exception of one feast. The bridegroom gives the bride a present of +three shoulder-cloths and three skirts, and one of these is worn by her +at the wedding; this is the old northern method of dress, but married +women do not usually adhere to it and have adopted the common sari or +single body-cloth. The principal ceremony is the bhanwar or walking +round the sacred post. While the bride and bridegroom are engaged +in this the parents and elderly relatives shut themselves into the +house and weep. During the first four rounds of the post the bride +walks in front bowing her head and the bridegroom places his right +hand on her back; while during the last three the bridegroom walks +in front holding the bride by her third finger. After this the bride +is hidden somewhere in the house and the bridegroom has to search for +her. Sometimes the bride's younger sister is dressed up in her clothes +and the bridegroom catches her in mistake for his wife, whereupon the +old women laugh and say to him, 'Do you want her also?' If finally +he fails to find the bride he must give her some ornament. + +After the wedding the bridegroom's marriage-crown is hung to the roof +in a basket. And on the sixth day of the following month of Bhadon +(August), he again dresses himself in his wedding clothes, and taking +his marriage-crown on a dish, proceeds to the nearest stream or river +accompanied by his friends. Here he throws the crown into the water, +and the wedding coat is washed clean of the turmeric and unsewn and +made up into ordinary clothes. This ceremony is known as moschatt and +is common to Hindu castes generally. Widows are permitted to marry +again, and the most usual match is with the younger brother of the +deceased husband. Divorce is allowed at the instance either of the +husband or wife, and may be effected by a simple declaration before +the caste committee. + + + + +4. Childbirth. + +After a birth neither the mother nor child are given anything to eat +the first day; and on the second they bring a young calf and give a +little of its urine to the child, and to the mother a little sugar and +the half of a cocoanut. In the evening of this day they buy all kinds +of hot spices and herbs from a Bania and make a cake with them and give +it to the mother to eat. On the second day the child begins to drink +its mother's milk. The navel-string is cut and buried in the room on +the first day, and over it a fire is kept burning continuously during +the period of impurity. The small piece which falls from the child's +body is buried beneath the mother's bed. The period of impurity after +the birth of a girl lasts for four days and five days for a boy. On +the sixth day the mother is given rice to eat. Twelve days after a +child is born the barber's wife cuts its nails for the first time +and throws the clippings away. + + + + +5. Ear-piercing + +The ears of boys and girls are pierced when they are four or five +years old; until this is done they are not considered as members of +the caste and may take food from anyone. The ear is always pierced +by a Sunar (goldsmith), who travels about the country in the pursuit +of this calling. A brass pin is left in the ear for fifteen days, +and is then removed and a strip of wood is substituted for it in a +boy's ear and a peacock's feather in that of a girl to enlarge the +hole. Girls do not have their nostrils pierced nor wear nose-rings, +as the Kachhis are a comparatively low caste. They are tattooed before +or after marriage with patterns of a scorpion, a peacock, a discus, +and with dots on the chin and cheek-bones. During the period of her +monthly impurity a girl is secluded in the house and does not eat +flesh or fish. When the time is finished she goes to the river and +bathes and dresses her hair with earth, which is a necessary ceremony +of purification. + + + + +6. Disposal of the dead. + +The bodies of children under five and of persons dying from smallpox, +snake-bite or cholera are buried, and those of others are cremated. In +Chhindwara they do not wash or anoint the corpses of the dead, but +sprinkle on them a little turmeric and water. On the day of the funeral +or cremation the bereaved family is supplied with food by friends. The +principal deity of the Kachhis is Bhainsasur, who is regarded as the +keeper of the vegetable garden and is represented by a stone placed +under a tree in any part of it. He is worshipped once a year after the +Holi festival with offerings of vermilion, areca-nuts and cocoanuts, +and libations of liquor. The Kachhis raise all kinds of vegetables and +garden crops, the principal being chillies, turmeric, tobacco, garlic, +onions, yams and other vegetables. They are diligent and laborious, +and show much skill in irrigating and manuring their crops. + + + + + + +Kadera + + +1. Historical notice. + +Kadera, Kandera, Golandaz, Bandar, Hawaidar. [233]--A small +occupational caste of makers of fireworks. The Kaderas numbered +2200 persons in 1911, and were most numerous in the Narsinghpur +District. They consider themselves to have come from Bundelkhand, where +the caste is also found, but it is in greatest strength in the Gwalior +State. In former times Kaderas were employed to manufacture gunpowder +and missiles of iron, and serve cannon in the Indian armies. The term +Golandaz or 'ball-thrower' was also applied to native artillerymen. The +Bandar or 'rocket-throwers' were a separate class, who fired rockets +containing missiles, the name being derived from van, an arrow. With +them may be classed the Deg-andaz or 'mortar-throwers,' who used +thick earthenware pots filled with powder and having fuses attached, +somewhat resembling the modern bomb--missiles which inflicted dreadful +wounds. [234] Mr. Irvine writes of the Mughal artillery as follows: +"The fire was never very rapid. Orme speaks of the artillery firing +once in a quarter of an hour. In 1721 the usual rate of fire of +heavy guns was once every three hours. Artillery which fired once +in two gharis or forty-four minutes was praised for its rapidity of +action. The guns were usually posted behind the clay walls of houses; +or they might take up a commanding position on the top of a brick-kiln; +or a temporary entrenchment might be formed out of the earthen bank +and ditch which usually surround a grove of mango-trees." Hawaidar +is a term for a maker of fireworks, while the name Kandera itself +may perhaps be derived from kand, an arrow. + + + + +2. Subdivisions. + +In Narsinghpur the Kaderas have three subcastes, Rajput or Dangiwara, +Dhunka, and Matwala. The first claim to be Rajputs, but the alternative +name of Dangiwara indicates that they are a mixed group, perhaps +partly of Rajput descent like the Dangis of Saugor. It is by no +means unlikely that the lower classes of Rajputs should have been +employed in the avocations of the Kaderas. The term Dhunka signifies +a cotton-cleaner, and some of the Kaderas may have taken up this +calling, when they could no longer find employment in the native +armies. Matwala means a drinker of country liquor, in which members +of this group indulge. But with the exception of the Rajput Kaderas +in Narsinghpur, other members of the caste also drink it. + + + + +3. Social customs. + +They celebrate their marriages by walking round the sacred +post. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. They have +a caste committee, with a headman called Chaudhri or Mehtar, and an +inferior officer known as Diwan. When a man has been put out of caste +the Chaudhri first takes food with him on readmission, and for this is +entitled to a fee of a rupee and a turban, while the Diwan receives a +smaller cloth. These offices are hereditary. The Kaderas have no purda +system, and a wife may speak freely to her father-in-law. They bury the +milk-teeth of children below the ghinochi, or stand for water-pots, +with the idea probably of preventing heat and inflammation in the +gums. A child's jhala or birth-hair is usually cut for the first time +on the occasion of some marriage in the family, and is thrown into +the Nerbudda or buried at a temple. Names are given by the Brahman +on the day of birth or soon afterwards, and a second pet name is +commonly used in the family. If a child sees a lamp on the chhati or +sixth day after its birth they think that it will squint. + + + + +4. Religion and occupation. + +The caste employ Brahmans for religious ceremonies, but their social +position is low, and they rank with castes from whom a Brahman cannot +take water. On the tenth day of Jeth (May) they worship Lukman +Hakim, a personage whom they believe to have been the inventor of +gunpowder. He is popularly identified with Solomon, and is revered +with Muhammadan rites in the shop and not in the house. A Fakir is +called in who sacrifices a goat, and makes an offering of the head, +which becomes his perquisite; sugar-cakes and sweet rice are also +offered and given away to children, and the flesh of the goat is +eaten by the family of the worshipper. Since the worship is paid only +in the shop it would appear that Lukman Hakim is considered a deity +foreign to the domestic religion, and is revered as having invented +the substance which enables the caste to make their livelihood; and +since he is clearly a Muhammadan deity, and is venerated according to +the ritual of this religion by the Kaderas, who are otherwise Hindus, +a recognition seems to be implied that as far at least as the Kaderas +are concerned the introduction of gunpowder into India is attributed to +the Muhammadans. It is not stated whether or not the month of May was +selected of set purpose for the worship of the inventor of gunpowder, +but it is at any rate a most appropriate season in India. At present +the Kadera makes his own gunpowder and manufactures fireworks, and +in this capacity he is also known as Atashbaz. The ingredients for +gunpowder in Narsinghpur are a pound of saltpetre, two ounces of +sulphur, and four ounces of charcoal of a light wood, such as saleh +[235] or the stalks of arhar. [236] Water is sprinkled on the charcoal +and the ingredients are pounded together in a mortar, a dangerous +proceeding which is apt to cause occasional vacancies in the family +circle. Arsenic and potash are also used for different fireworks, and +sesamum oil is added to prevent smoke. Fireworks form a very popular +spectacle in India, and can be obtained of excellent quality even in +small towns. Bharbhunjas or grain-parchers now also deal in them. + + + + + + +Kahar + + +1. Origin and statistics. + +Kahar, [237] Bhoi.--The caste of palanquin-bearers and watermen of +northern India. No scientific distinction can be made between the +Kahars and Dhimars, both names being applied to the same people. In +northern India the term Kahar is generally used, and Mr. Crooke has +an article on Kahar, but none on Dhimar. In the Central Provinces +the latter is the more common name for the caste, and in 1911 23,000 +Kahars were returned as against nearly 300,000 Dhimars. Berar had also +27,000 Kahars. The social customs of the caste are described in the +article on Dhimar, but a short separate notice is given to the Kahars +on account of their special social interest. Some Kahars refuse to +clean household cooking-vessels and hence occupy a slightly higher +social position than the Dhimars generally. Mr. Crooke derives the +name of the caste from the Sanskrit Skandha-kara, or 'One who carries +things on his shoulder.' The Brahmanical genealogists represent the +Kahar as descended from a Brahman father and a Chandal or sweeper +mother, and this is typical of the position occupied by the caste, +who, though probably derived from the primitive non-Aryan tribes, +have received a special position on account of their employment as +household servants, so that all classes may take water and cooked +food at their hands. As one of Mr. Crooke's correspondents remarks: +"This caste is so low that they clean the vessels of almost all +castes except menials like the Chamar and Dhobi, and at the same time +so high that, except Kanaujia Brahmans, all other castes eat pakki +and drink water at their hands." Sir D. Ibbetson says of the Kahar: +"He is a true village menial, receiving customary dues and performing +customary service. His social standing is in one respect high; for all +will drink water at his hands. But he is still a servant, though the +highest of his class." This comparatively high degree of social purity +appears to have been conferred on the Kahars and Dhimars from motives +of convenience, as it would be intolerable to have a palanquin-bearer +or indoor servant from whom one could not take a drink of water. + + + + +2. The doli or palanquin. + +The proper occupation of the Kahar is that of doli or +litter-bearer. When carts could not travel owing to the absence of +roads this was the regular mode of conveyance of those who could +afford it and did not ride. Buchanan remarks: "Few or none except +some chief native officers of Government keep bearers in constant pay; +but men of large estates give farms at low rents to their bearers, who +are ready at a call and receive food when employed." [238] A superior +kind of litter used by rich women had a domed roof supported on eight +pillars with side-boards like Venetian blinds; and was carried on +two poles secured to the sides beneath the roof. This is perhaps the +progenitor of the modern Calcutta ghari or four-wheeler, just as the +body of the hansom-cab was modelled on the old sedan-chair. It was +called Kharkhariya in imitation of the rattling of the blinds when in +motion. [239] The palki or ordinary litter consisted of a couch slung +under a long bamboo, which formed an arch over it. Over the arch was +suspended a tilt made of cloth, which served to screen the passenger +from sun and rain. A third kind was the Chaupala or square box open at +the sides and slung on a bamboo; the passenger sat doubled up inside +this. If as was sometimes the case the Chaupala was hung considerably +beneath the bamboo the passenger was miserably draggled by dust and +mud. Nowadays regular litters are so little used that they are not +to be found in villages; but when required because one cannot ride +or for travelling at night they are readily improvised by slinging +a native wooden cot from two poles by strings of bamboo-fibre. Most +of the Kahars and Dhimars have forgotten how to carry a litter, +and proceed very slowly with frequent stops to change shoulders or +substitute other bearers. But the Kols of Mandla still retain the art, +and will do more than four miles an hour for several hours if eight +men are allowed. Under native governments the privilege of riding in +a palanquin was a mark of distinction; and a rule was enforced that +no native could thus enter into the area of the forts in Madras and +Bombay without the permission of the Governor; such permission being +recorded in the order book at the gates of the fort and usually granted +only to a few who were lame or otherwise incapacitated. When General +Medows assumed the office of Governor of Bombay in 1788 some Parsis +waited on him and begged for the removal of this restriction; to which +the Governor replied, "So long as you do not force me to ride in this +machine he may who likes it"; and so the rule was abrogated. [240] +A passage from Hobson-Jobson, however, shows that the Portuguese were +much stricter in this respect: "In 1591 a proclamation of the Viceroy, +Matthias d'Albuquerque, ordered: 'That no person of what quality or +condition soever, shall go in a palanquy without my express licence, +save they be over sixty years of age, to be first proved before the +Auditor-General of Police ... and those who contravene this shall +pay a penalty of 200 cruzados, and persons of mean estate the half, +the palanquys and their belongings to be forfeited, and the bois or +mouços who carry such palanquys shall be condemned to His Majesty's +galleys.'" [241] The meaning of the last sentence appears to be that +the bearers were considered as slaves, and were forfeited to the king's +service as a punishment to their owner. As the unauthorised use of +this conveyance was so severely punished it would appear that riding +in a palanquin must have been a privilege of nobility. Similarly to +ride on a horse was looked upon in something of the same light; and +when a person of inferior consequence met a superior or a Government +officer while riding, he had to dismount from his horse as a mark of +respect until the other had passed. This last custom still obtains +to some extent, though it is rapidly disappearing. + +As a means of conveyance the litter would be held sacred by primitive +people, and Mr. Crooke gives an instance of the regard paid to it: +"At the Holi festival eight days before Diwali in the western Districts +the house is plastered with cowdung and figures of a litter (doli) and +bearers are made on the walls with four or five colours, and to them +offerings of incense, lights and flowers are given." [242] Even after +passable roads were made tongas or carts drawn by trotting-bullocks +were slow in coming into general use owing to the objection felt by +the Hindus to harnessing the sacred ox. + + + + +3. Female bearers. + +At royal courts women were employed to carry the litters of the +king and the royal ladies into the inner precincts of the palace, +the male bearers relinquishing their charge outside. "Another +class of attendants at the palace peculiar to Lucknow were the +female bearers. Their occupation was to carry the palanquins and +various covered conveyances of the king and his ladies into the +inner courts of the harem. These female bearers were also under +military discipline. They had their officers, commissioned and +non-commissioned. The head of them, a great masculine woman of pleasing +countenance, was an especial favourite of the king. The badinage which +was exchanged between them was of the freest possible character--not +fit for ears polite, of course; but the extraordinary point in it was +that no one hearing it or witnessing such scenes could have supposed +it possible that a king and a slave stood before him as the two chief +disputants." [243] Similarly female sepoys were employed to guard the +harem, dressed in ordinary uniform and regularly drilled and taught +to shoot. [244] A battalion of female troops for guarding the zenana +is still maintained in Hyderabad. [245] + + + + +4. Indoor servants. + +From being a palanquin-bearer the Kahar became the regular indoor +servant of Hindu households. Originally of low caste, and derived from +the non-Aryan tribes, they did not object to eat the leavings of food +of their masters, a relation which is naturally very convenient, if +not essential, in poor Hindu houses. Sir H. Risley notes, however, that +in Bengal a Kahar engaged in personal service with a Brahman, Rajput, +Babhan, Kayasth or Agarwal, will only eat his master's leavings so long +as he is himself unmarried. [246] It seems that the marriage feast +may be considered as the sacrificial meal conferring full membership +of the caste, after which the rules against taking food from other +castes must be strictly observed. Slaves were commonly employed as +indoor servants, and hence the term Kahar came to be almost synonymous +with a slave. "In the eighteenth century the title Kahar was at Patna +the distinctive appellation of a Hindu slave, as Maulazadah was of +a Muhammadan, and the tradition in 1774 was that the Kahar slavery +took its rise when the Muhammadans first invaded northern India." [247] + +As the Kahar was the common indoor servant in Hindu houses so +apparently he came to be employed in the same capacity by the +English. But he was of too high a caste to serve the food of a +European, which would have involved touching the cooked flesh of +the cow, and thus lost him his comparatively good status and social +purity among the Hindus. Hence arose the anomaly of a body servant +who would not touch his master's food, and confined himself to the +duties of a valet; while the name of bearer given to this servant +indicates clearly that he is the successor of the old-time Kahar +or palanquin-bearer. The Uriya bearers of Bengal were well known as +excellent servants and most faithful; but in time the inconvenience +of their refusal to wait at table has led to their being replaced by +low-caste Madrasis and by Muhammadans. The word 'boy' as applied to +Indian servants is no doubt of English origin, as it is also used in +China and the West Indies; but the South Indian term boyi or Hindi +bhoi for a palanquin-bearer also appears to have been corrupted into +boy and to have made this designation more common. The following +instances of the use of the word 'boy' from Hobson-Jobson [248] may +be quoted in conclusion: "The real Indian ladies lie on a sofa, and +if they drop their handkerchief they just lower their voices and say +'Boy,' in a very gentle tone" (Letters from Madras in 1826). 'Yes, +Sahib, I Christian Boy. Plenty poojah do. Sunday time never no work do' +(Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow, in 1866). The Hindu term Bhoi or bearer +is now commonly applied to the Gonds, and is considered by them as an +honorific name or title. The hypothesis thus appears to be confirmed +that the Kahar caste of palanquin-bearers was constituted from the +non-Aryan tribes, who were practically in the position of slaves to +the Hindus, as were the Chamars and Mahars, the village drudges and +labourers. But when the palanquin-bearer developed into an indoor +servant, his social status was gradually raised from motives of +convenience, until he grew to be considered as ceremonially pure, and +able to give his master water and prepare food for cooking. Thus the +Kahars or Dhimars came to rank considerably above the primitive tribes +from whom they took their origin, their ceremonial purity being equal +to that of the Hindu cultivating castes, while the degrading status +of slavery which had at first attached to them gradually fell into +abeyance. And thus one can understand why the Gonds should consider +the name of Bhoi or bearer as a designation of honour. + + + + + + +Kaikari + + +1. Origin and traditions. + +Kaikari, Kaikadi (also called Bargandi by outsiders). [249]--A +disreputable wandering tribe, whose ostensible profession is to +make baskets. They are found in Nimar and the Maratha Districts, +and number some 2000 persons in the Central Provinces. The Kaikaris +here, as elsewhere, claim to have come from Telingana or the Deccan, +but there is no caste of this name in the Madras Presidency. They may +not improbably be the caste there known as Korva or Yerukala, whose +occupations are similar. Mr. Kitts [250] has stated that the Kaikaris +are known as Koravars in Arcot and as Korvas in the Carnatic. The +Kaikaris speak a gipsy language, which according to the specimen given +by Hislop [251] contains Tamil and Telugu words. One derivation of +Kaikari is from the Tamil kai, hand, and kude, basket, and if this +is correct it is in favour of their identification with the Korvas, +who always carry their tattooing and other implements in a basket in +the hand. [252] The Kaikaris of the Central Provinces say that their +original ancestor was one Kanoba Ramjan who handed a twig to his sons +and told them to earn their livelihood by it. Since then they have +subsisted by making baskets from the stalks of the cotton-plant, the +leaves of the date-palm and grass. They themselves derive their name +from Kai, standing for Kanoba Ramjan and kadi, a twig, an etymology +which may be dismissed with that given in the Berar Census Report [253] +that they are the remnants of the Kaikeyas, who before the Christian +era dwelt north of the Jalandhar Doab. Two subcastes exist in Nimar, +the Marathas and the Phirasti or wandering Kaikaris, the former no +doubt representing recruits from Maratha castes, not improbably from +the Kunbis. The Maratha Kaikaris look down on the Phirastis as the +latter take cooked food from a number of castes including the Telis, +while the Marathas refuse to do this. In the Nagpur country there +are several divisions which profess to be endogamous, as the Kamathis +or those selling toys made of palm-leaves, the Bhamtis or those who +steal from bazars, the Kunbis or cultivators, the Tokriwalas or makers +and sellers of baskets and the Boriwalas or those who carry bricks, +gravel and stone. Kunbi and Bhamti are the names of other castes, +and Kamathi is a general term applied in the Maratha country to +Telugu immigrants; the names thus show that the Kaikaris, like other +vagrant groups, are largely recruited from persons expelled from +their own caste for social offences. These groups cannot really be +endogamous as yet, but as in the case of several other wandering +tribes they probably have a tendency to become so. In Berar [254] +an entirely different set of 12 1/2 subcastes is recorded, several +of which are territorial, and two, the Pungis or blowers of gourds, +and the Wajantris or village musicians, are occupational. In Nimar +as in Khandesh [255] the Kaikaris have only two exogamous clans, +Jadon and Gaikwar, who must marry with each other. In the southern +Districts there are a number of exogamous divisions, as Jadon, Mane, +Kumre, Jeshti, Kade, Dane and others. Jadon is a well-known Rajput +sept, and the Kaikaris do not explain how they came by the name, but +claim to have fought as soldiers under several kings, during which +occasions the name may have been adopted from some Rajput leader in +accordance with the common practice of imitation. Mane and Gaikwar are +family names of the Maratha caste. The names and varied nomenclature of +the subdivisions show that the Kaikaris, as at present constituted, +are a very mixed caste, though they may not improbably have been +originally connected with the Korvas of Madras. + + + + +2. Marriage. + +Marriage within the same gotra or section is prohibited, but with one +or two exceptions there are no other restrictions on intermarriage +between relatives. A sister's son may marry a brother's daughter, but +not vice versa. A man may not marry his wife's elder sister either +during his wife's lifetime or after her death, and he may marry her +younger sister, but not the younger but one. Girls are generally +married between 8 and 12 years of age. If a girl cannot get a partner +nothing is done, but when the marriage of a boy has not been arranged, +a sham rite is performed with an akao plant (swallow-wort) or with +a silver ring, all the ceremonies of a regular marriage being gone +through. The tree is subsequently carefully reared, or the ring worn on +the finger. Should the tree die or the ring be lost, funeral obsequies +are performed for it as for a member of the family. A bride-price is +paid which may vary from Rs. 20 to Rs. 100. In the southern Districts +the following custom is in vogue at weddings. After the ceremony the +bridegroom pretends to be angry and goes out of the mandap or shed, +on which the bride runs after him, and throwing a piece of cloth round +his neck, drags him back again. Her father then gives him some money +or ornaments to pacify him. After this the same performance is gone +through with the bride. The bride is taken to her husband's house, +but is soon brought back by her relatives. On her second departure +the husband himself does not go to fetch her, and she is brought +home by his father and other relations, her own family presenting +her with new clothes on this occasion. Widow-marriage is permitted, +and the widow is expected to marry the next younger brother of the +deceased husband. She may not marry any except the next younger, +and if another should take her he is expelled from the caste until +the connection is severed. If she marries somebody else he must +repay to her late husband's brother a half of the expenses incurred +on the first marriage. In the southern Districts she may not marry +a brother of her husband's at all. A widow cannot be married in her +late husband's house, but is taken to her parents' house and married +from there. In Nimar her family do not take anything, but in the +south they are paid a small sum. Here also the marriage is performed +at the second husband's house; the woman carries to it a new earthen +pitcher filled with water, and, placing it on the chauk or pattern +of lines traced with flour in the courtyard, touches the feet of +the Panch or caste committee, after which her skirt is tied to her +husband's cloth. The pair are seated on a blanket and new bangles are +placed on the woman's wrist, widows officiating at the ceremony. The +couple then leave the village and pass the night outside it, returning +next morning, when the woman manages to enter the house without being +perceived by a married woman or unmarried girl. A bachelor marrying a +widow must first go through the ceremony with a ring or akao plant, +as already described, this being his real marriage; if he omits the +rite his daughters by the widow will not be considered as members +of the caste, though his sons will be admitted. Polygamy is allowed, +but the consent of the first wife must be obtained to the taking of a +second, and she may require a written promise of good treatment after +the second marriage. A second wife is usually only taken if the first +is barren, and if she has children her parents usually interfere to +dissuade the husband, while other parents are always averse to giving +their daughter in marriage to a man under such circumstances. Divorce +is permitted for the usual reasons, a deed being drawn up and attested +by the panchayat, to whom the husband pays a fine of Rs. 8 or Rs. 10. + + + + +3. Religion. + +The tutelary god of the Kaikaris is the Nag or cobra, who is worshipped +at marriages and on the day of Nag-Panchmi. Every family has in the +house a platform dedicated to Khandoba, the Maratha god of war. They +also worship Marimata, to whom flowers are offered at festivals, and +a little ghi is poured out in her honour by way of incense. When the +juari harvest is gathered, dalias or cakes of boiled juari and a ewe +are offered to Marimata. They do not revere the Hindu sacred trees, +the pipal and banyan, nor the basil plant, and will readily cut them +down. They both burn and bury the dead. The Jadons burn all married +persons, but if they cannot afford firewood they touch the corpse +with a burning cinder and then bury it. The Gaikwars always bury their +dead, the corpse being laid naked on its back with the feet pointing +to the south. On returning from the burial-ground each relative of +the deceased gives one roti or wheaten cake to the bereaved family, +and they eat, sharing the cakes with the panchayat. Bread is also +presented on the second day, and on the third the family begin to +cook again. Mourning lasts for ten days, and on the last day the +house is cleaned and the earthen pots thrown out; the clothes of the +family are washed and the males are shaved. Ten balls of rice cooked +in milk are offered to the soul of the dead person and a feast is +given to the caste. After a birth the mother remains impure for five +weeks. For the first five days both the mother and child are bathed +daily. The navel cord and after-birth are buried by the midwife in a +rubbish heap. When the milk teeth fall out they are placed in a ball +of the dung of an ass and thrown on to the roof of the house. It is +considered that the rats or mice, who have very good and sharp teeth, +will take them and give the child good teeth in exchange. Women are +impure for five days during the menstrual period. When a girl attains +maturity a ceremony called god-bharni is performed. The neighbours +are invited and songs are sung and the girl is seated in the chauk +or pattern of lines traced with flour. She is given new clothes and +bangles by her father, or her father-in-law if she is married, and +rice and plantains, cocoanuts and other fruits are tied up in her +skirt. This is no doubt done so that the girl may in like manner be +fruitful, the cocoanuts perhaps being meant to represent human heads, +as they usually do. + + + + +4. Social customs and position. + +The Kaikaris eat flesh, including pork and fowls, but not beef. In +Nimar the animals which they eat must have their throats cut by a +Muhammadan with the proper formula, otherwise it is considered as +murder to slaughter them. Both men and women drink liquor. They take +food cooked with water from Kunbis and Malis and take water from the +same castes, but not from Dhimars, Nais or Kahars. No caste will take +food from a Kaikari. Their touch is considered to defile a Brahman, +Bania, Kalar and other castes, but not a Kunbi. They are not allowed +to enter temples but may live inside the village. Their status is thus +very low. They have a caste panchayat or committee, and punishments +are imposed for the usual offences. Permanent exclusion from caste +is rarely or never inflicted, and even a woman who has gone wrong +with an outsider may be readmitted after a peculiar ceremony of +purification. The delinquent is taken to a river, tank or well, and +is there shaved clean. Her tongue is branded with a ring or other +article of gold, and she is then seated under a wooden shed having +two doors. She goes in by one door and sits in the shed, which is +set on fire. She must remain seated until the whole shed is burning +and is then allowed to escape by the other door. A young boy of the +caste is finally asked to eat from her hand, and thus purified she +is readmitted to social intercourse. Fire is the great purifier, and +this ceremony probably symbolises the immolation of the delinquent +and her new birth. A similar ordeal is practised among the Korvas of +Bombay, and this fact may be taken as affording further evidence of +the identity of the two castes. [256] The morals of the caste are, +however, by no means good, and some of them are said to live by +prostituting their women. The dog is held especially sacred as with +all worshippers of Khandoba, and to swear by a dog is Khandoba's +oath and is considered the most binding. The Kaikaris are of dark +colour and have repulsive features. They do not bathe or change their +clothes for days together. They are also quarrelsome, and in Bombay +the word Kaikarin is a proverbial term for a dirty shrew. Women are +profusely tattooed, because tattooing is considered to be a record +of the virtuous acts performed in this world and must be displayed +to the deity after death. If no marks of tattooing are found the soul +is sent to hell and punished for having acquired no piety. + + + + +5. Occupation. + +Basket-making is the traditional occupation of the Kaikaris and +is still followed by them. They do not however make baskets from +bamboos, but from cotton-stalks, palm-leaves and grass. In the south +they are principally employed as carriers of stone, lime, bricks and +gravel. Like most wandering castes they have a bad character. In Berar +the Ran Kaikaris are said to be the most criminal class. [257] They +act under a chief who is elected for life, and wander about in the cold +weather, usually carrying their property on donkeys. Their ostensible +occupations are to make baskets and mend grinding mills. A notice of +them in Lawrence's Settlement Report of Bhandara (1867) stated that +they were then professional thieves, openly avowing their dependence +on predatory occupations for subsistence, and being particularly +dexterous at digging through the walls of houses and secret pilfering. + + + + + + +Kalanga + + +1. Origin. + +Kalanga.--A cultivating caste of Chhattisgarh numbering 1800 persons +in 1911. In Sambalpur they live principally in the Phuljhar zamindari +on the border, between Chhattisgarh and the Uriya track. The Kalangas +appear to be a Dravidian tribe who took up military service and +therefore adopted a territorial name, Kalanga being probably derived +from Kalinga, the name of the sea-board of the Telugu country. The +Kalangas may be a branch of the great Kalingi tribe of Madras. They +have mixed much with the Kawars, and in Phuljhar say that they have +three branches, the Kalingia, Kawar and Chero Kalangas; Kawar and +Chero are names for the same tribe, and the last two branches are thus +probably a mixture of Kalingis and Kawars, while the first comprises +the original Kalingis. The Kalangas themselves, like the Kawars, +say that they are the descendants of the Kauravas of the Mahabharata, +and that they came from northern India with the Rajas of Patna, whom +they still serve. But their features indicate their Dravidian descent +as also their social customs, especially that of killing a cock with +the bare hands on the birth of a child, and anointing the infant's +forehead with its blood. They have not retained their Telugu language, +however, and like the Kawars now speak a dialect of Chhattisgarhi at +home, while many also know Uriya. + + + + +2. Subdivisions. + +The Kalangas have no real endogamous divisions but a large number +of exogamous groups or bargas, the names of which are derived from +animals, plants, or material objects, nicknames, occupations or +titles. Instances of the totemistic groups are Barha the wild boar, +Magar the crocodile, Bichhi the scorpion, Saria a variety of rice, +Chhati a mushroom, Khumri a leaf umbrella, and several others. The +members of the group revere the animal, plant or other object from +which it takes its name and would refuse to injure it or use it +for food. They salute the object whenever they see it. Instances of +other group names are Manjhi a headman, Behra a cook, Gunda dusty, +Kapat a shutter, Bhundi a hole, Chika muddy, Bhil a tribe, Rendia +quarrelsome, and Bersia a Thug or strangler. Some of the nicknames or +titles are curious, as for instance Kapat, a shutter, which stands +for gate-keeper, and Bhundi, a hole, which indicates a defective +person. Some of the group names are those of other castes, and this +probably indicates the admission of families of other castes among the +Kalangas. One of the groups is called Kusundi, the meaning of which is +not known, but whenever any one of the caste gets maggots in a wound +and is temporarily expelled, it is a member of the Kusundi group, +if one is available, who gives him water on his readmission into +caste. This is a dangerous service, because it renders the performer +liable to the burden of the other's sin, and when no Kusundi is present +five or seven men of other groups combine in doing it so as to reduce +the risk to a fraction. But why this function of a scapegoat should be +imposed upon the Kusundi group, or whether it possesses any peculiar +sanctity which protects it from danger, cannot be explained. + + + + +3. Marriage. + +Marriage within the same barga or group is prohibited and also +the union of first cousins. Marriage is usually adult and matches +are arranged between the parents of the parties. A considerable +quantity of grain with five pieces of cloth and Rs. 5 are given +to the father of the bride. A marriage-shed is erected and a post +of the mahua tree fixed inside it. Three days before the wedding a +Ganda goes to the shed with some pomp and worships the village gods +there. In the ceremony the bridegroom and bride proceed separately +seven times round the post, this rite being performed for three days +running. During the four days of the wedding the fathers of the bride +and bridegroom each give one meal to the whole caste on two days, +while the other meal on all four days is given to the wedding party +by the members of the caste resident in the village. This may be a +survival of the time when all members of the village community were +held to be related. Widow-marriage is allowed, but the widow must +obtain the consent of the caste people before taking a second husband, +and a feast must be given to them. If the widow has no children and +there are no relatives to succeed to her late husband's property, +it is expended on feeding the caste people. Divorce is permitted and +is effected by breaking the woman's bangles in front of the caste +panchayat. In memory perhaps of their former military profession the +Kalangas worship the sword on the 15th day of Shrawan and the 9th +day of Kunwar. Offerings are made to the dead in the latter month, +but not to persons who have died a violent death. The spirits of these +must be laid lest they should trouble the living, and this is done in +the following manner: a handful of rice is placed at the threshold +of the house, and a ring is suspended by a thread so as to touch +the rice. A goat is then brought up, and when it eats the rice, the +spirit of the dead person is considered to have entered into the goat, +which is thereupon killed and eaten by the family so as to dispose of +him once for all. If the goat will not eat the rice it is made to do +so. The spirit of a man who has been killed by a tiger must, however, +be laid by the Sulia or sorcerer of the caste, who goes through the +formula of pretending to be a tiger and of mauling another sorcerer. + + + + +4. Social position. + +The Kalangas are at present cultivators and many of them are +farmservants. They do not now admit outsiders into the caste, but they +will receive the children begotten on any woman by a Kalanga man. They +take food cooked without water from a Guria, but katchi food from +nobody. Only the lowest castes will take food from them. They drink +liquor and eat fowls and rats, but not beef or pork. A man who gets +his ear torn is temporarily excluded from caste, and this penalty +is also imposed for the other usual offences. A woman committing +adultery with a man of another caste is permanently expelled. The +Kalangas are somewhat tall in stature. Their features are Dravidian, +and in their dress and ornaments they follow the Chhattisgarhi style. + + + + + + +KALAR + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Strength of the caste. + 2. Internal structure. + 3. Dandsena Kalars in Chhattisgarh. + 4. Social customs. + 5. Liquor held divine in Vedic times. + 6. Subsequent prohibition of alcohol. + 7. Spirits habitually drunk in ancient times. + 8. Drunkenness and divine inspiration. + 9. Sanctity of liquor among the Gonds and other castes. + 10. Drugs also considered divine. + 11. Opium and ganja. + 12. Tobacco. + 13. Customs in connection with drinking. + + + + +1. Strength of the caste. + +Kalar, Kalwar. [258]--The occupational caste of distillers and sellers +of fermented liquor. In 1911 the Kalars numbered nearly 200,000 persons +in the Central Provinces and Berar, or rather more than one per cent of +the population; so they are a somewhat important caste numerically. The +name is derived from the Sanskrit Kalyapala, a distiller of liquor. + + + + +2. Internal structure. + +The caste has a number of subdivisions, of which the bulk are +of the territorial type, as Malvi or the immigrants from Malwa, +Lad those coming from south Gujarat, Daharia belonging to Dahar or +the Jubbulpore country, Jaiswar and Kanaujia coming from Oudh. The +Rai Kalars are an aristocratic subcaste, the word Rai signifying +the highest or ruling group like Raj. But the Byahut or 'Married' +are perhaps really the most select, and are so called because they +forbid the remarriage of widows, their women being thus married once +for all. In Bengal they also decline to distil or sell liquor. [259] +The Chauske Kalars are said to be so called because they prohibit +the marriage of persons having a common ancestor up to the fourth +generation. The name of the Seohare or Sivahare subcaste is perhaps a +corruption of Somhare or dealers in Soma, the sacred fermented liquor +of the Vedas; or it may mean the worshippers of the god Siva. The +Seohare Kalars say that they are connected with the Agarwala Banias, +their common ancestors having been the brothers Seoru and Agru. These +brothers on one occasion purchased a quantity of mahua [260] flowers; +the price afterwards falling heavily. Agru sold his stock at a discount +and cut the loss; but Seoru, unwilling to suffer it, distilled liquor +from his flowers and sold the liquor, thus recouping himself for his +expenditure. But in consequence of his action he was degraded from +the Bania caste and his descendants became Kalars. The Jaiswar, +Kanaujia and Seohare divisions are also found in northern India, +and the Byahut both there and in Bengal. Mr. Crooke states that the +caste may be an offshoot from the Bania or other Vaishya tribes; and +a slight physical resemblance may perhaps be traced between Kalars +and Banias. It may be noticed also that some of the Kalars are Jains, +a religion to which scarcely any others except Banias adhere. Another +hypothesis, however, is that since the Kalars have become prosperous +and wealthy they devised a story connecting them with the Bania caste +in order to improve their social position. + + + + +3. Dandsena Kalars in Chhattisgarh. + +In Chhattisgarh the principal division of the Kalars is that of the +Dandsenas or 'Stick-carriers,' and in explanation of the name they +relate the following story: "A Kalar boy was formerly the Mahaprasad +or bosom friend of the son of the Rajput king of Balod. [261] But the +Raja's son fell in love with the Kalar boy's sister and entertained +evil intentions towards her. Then the Kalar boy went and complained +to the Raja, who was his Phulbaba, [262] the father of his friend, +saying, 'A dog is always coming into my house and defiling it, +what am I to do?' The Raja replied that he must kill the dog. Then +the boy asked whether he would be punished for killing him, and the +Raja said, No. So the next day as the Rajput boy was entering his +house to get at his sister, the Kalar boy killed him, though he was +his dearest friend. Then the Rajputs attacked the Kalars, but they +were led only by the queen, as the king had said that the Kalar boy +might kill the dog. But the Rajputs were being defeated and so the +Raja intervened, and the Kalars then ceased fighting as the Raja had +broken his word. But they left Balod, saying that they would drink +no more of its waters, which they have not done to this day." [263] +And the Kalars are called Dandsena, because in this fight sticks were +their only weapons. + + + + +4. Social customs. + +The marriage customs of the caste follow the ordinary Hindu ritual +prevalent in the locality and are not of special interest. Before +a Kalar wedding procession starts a ceremony known as marrying the +well is performed. The mother or aunt of the bridegroom goes to the +well and sits in the mouth with her legs hanging down inside it and +asks what the bridegroom will give her. He then goes round the well +seven times, and a stick of kans [264] grass is thrown into it at each +turn. Afterwards he promises the woman some handsome present and she +returns to the house. Another explanation of the story is that the +woman pretends to be overcome with grief at the bridegroom's departure +and threatens to throw herself into the well unless he will give +her something. The well-to-do marry their daughters at an early age, +but no stigma attaches to those who have to postpone the ceremony. A +bride-price is not customary, but if the girl's parents are poor +they sometimes receive help from those of the boy in order to carry +out the wedding. Matches are usually arranged at the caste feasts, +and a Brahman officiates at the ceremony. Divorce is recognised and +widows are allowed to marry again except by the Byahut subcaste. The +Kalars worship the ordinary Hindu deities, and those who sell liquor +revere an earthen jar filled with wine at the Holi festival. The +educated are usually Vaishnavas by sect, and as already stated a +few of them belong to the Jain religion. The social status of the +Kalars is equivalent to that of the village menials, ranking below +the good cultivating castes. Brahmans do not take water from their +hands. But in Mandla, where the Kalars are important and prosperous, +certain Sarwaria Brahmans who were their household priests took water +from them, thus recognising them as socially pure. This has led to a +split among the local Sarwaria Brahmans, the families who did not take +water from the Kalars refusing to intermarry with those who did so. + +While the highest castes of Hindus eschew spirituous liquor the +cultivating and middle classes are divided, some drinking it and others +not; and to the menial and labouring classes, and especially to the +forest tribes, it is the principal luxury of their lives. Unfortunately +they have not learnt to indulge in moderation and nearly always drink +to excess if they have the means, while the intoxicating effect of +even a moderate quantity is quickly perceptible in their behaviour. + +In the Central Provinces the liquor drunk is nearly all distilled from +the flowers of the mahua tree (Bassia latifolia), though elsewhere +it is often made from cane sugar. The smell of the fermented mahua +and the refuse water lying about make the village liquor-shop an +unattractive place. But the trade has greatly profited the Kalars by +the influence which it has given them over the lower classes. "With +the control of the liquor-supply in their hands," Mr. Montgomerie +writes, "they also controlled the Gonds, and have played a more +important part in the past history of the Chhindwara District than +their numbers would indicate." [265] The Kalar and Teli (oil-presser) +are usually about on the same standing; they are the creditors of +the poorer tenants and labourers, as the Bania is of the landowners +and substantial cultivators. These two of the village trades are not +suited to the method of payment by annual contributions of grain, and +must from an early period have been conducted by single transactions +of barter. Hence the Kalar and Teli learnt to keep accounts and to +appreciate the importance of the margin of profit. This knowledge and +the system of dealing on credit with the exaction of interest have +stood them in good stead and they have prospered at the expense of +their fellow-villagers. The Kalars have acquired substantial property +in several Districts, especially in those mainly populated by Gonds, +as Mandla, Betul and Chhindwara. In British Districts of the Central +Provinces they own 750 villages, or about 4 per cent of the total. In +former times when salt was highly taxed and expensive the Gonds had +no salt. The Kalars imported rock-salt and sold it to the Gonds in +large pieces. These were hung up in the Gond houses just as they are +in stables, and after a meal every one would go up to the lump of salt +and lick it as ponies do. When the Gonds began to wear cloth instead +of leaves and beads the Kalars retailed them thin strips of cloth just +sufficient for decency, and for the cloth and salt a large proportion +of the Gond's harvest went to the Kalar. When a Gond has threshed +his grain the Kalar takes round liquor to the threshing-floor and +receives a present of grain much in excess of its value. Thus the +Gond has sold his birthright for a mess of pottage and the Kalar +has taken his heritage. Only a small proportion of the caste are +still supported by the liquor traffic, and a third of the whole are +agriculturists. Others have engaged in the timber trade, purchasing +teak timber from the Gonds in exchange for liquor, a form of commerce +which has naturally redounded to their great advantage. A few are +educated and have risen to good positions in Government service. Sir +D. Ibbetson describes them as 'Notorious for enterprise, energy and +obstinacy. Death may budge, but a Kalar won't.' The Sikh Kalars, who +usually call themselves Ahluwalia, contain many men who have attained +to high positions under Government, especially as soldiers, and the +general testimony is that they make brave soldiers. [266] One of the +ruling chiefs of the Punjab belongs to this caste. Until quite recently +the manufacture of liquor, except in the large towns, was conducted +in small pot-stills, of which there was one for a circle of perhaps +two dozen villages with subordinate shops. The right of manufacture +and vend in each separate one of these stills was sold annually by +auction at the District headquarters, and the Kalars assembled to bid +for it. And here instances of their dogged perseverance could often be +noticed; when a man would bid up for a licence to a sum far in excess +of the profits which he could hope to acquire from it, rather than +allow himself to be deprived of a still which he desired to retain. + + + + +5. Liquor held divine in Vedic times. + +Though alcoholic liquor is now eschewed by the higher castes of +Hindus and forbidden by their religion, this has by no means always +been the case. In Vedic times the liquor known as Soma was held in so +much esteem by the Aryans that it was deified and worshipped as one +of their principal gods. Dr. Hopkins summarises [267] the attributes +of the divine wine, Soma, as follows, from passages in the Rig-Veda: +"This offering of the juice of the Soma-plant in India was performed +thrice daily. It is said in the Rig-Veda that Soma grows upon the +mountain Mujawat, that its or his father is Parjanya, the rain-god, +and that the waters are his sisters. From this mountain, or from +the sky, accounts differ, Soma was brought by a hawk. He is himself +represented in other places as a bird; and as a divinity he shares +in the praise given to Indra. It was he who helped Indra to slay +Vritra, the demon that keeps back the rain. Indra, intoxicated by +Soma, does his great deeds, and indeed all the gods depend on Soma +for immortality. Divine, a weapon-bearing god, he often simply takes +the place of Indra and other gods in Vedic eulogy. It is the god Soma +himself who slays Vritra, Soma who overthrows cities, Soma who begets +the gods, creates the sun, upholds the sky, prolongs life, sees all +things, and is the one best friend of god and man, the divine drop +(indu), the friend of Indra. As a god he is associated not only with +Indra but also with Agni, Rudra and Pushan. A few passages in the +later portion of the Rig-Veda show that Soma already was identified +with the moon before the end of this period. After this the lunar +yellow god was regularly regarded as the visible and divine Soma +of heaven represented on earth by the plant." Mr. Hopkins discards +the view advanced by some commentators that it is the moon and not +the beverage to which the Vedic hymns and worship are addressed, +and there is no reason to doubt that he is right. + +The soma plant has been thought to be the Asclepias acida, [268] a +plant growing in Persia and called hom in Persian. The early Persians +believed that the hom plant gave great energy to body and mind. [269] +An angel is believed to preside over the plant, and the Hom Yast +is devoted to its praises. Twigs of it are beaten in water in the +smaller Agiari or fire-temple, and this water is considered sacred, +and is given to newborn children to drink. [270] Dr. Hopkins states, +however, that the hom or Asclepias acida was not the original soma, +as it does not grow in the Punjab region, but must have been a +later substitute. Afterwards again another kind of liquor, sura, +became the popular drink, and soma, which was now not so agreeable, +was reserved as the priests' (gods') drink, a sacrosanct beverage not +for the vulgar, and not esteemed by the priests except as it kept up +the rite. [271] + +Soma is said to have been prepared from the juice of the creeper +already mentioned, which was diluted with water, mixed with barley +meal, clarified butter and the flour of wild rice, and fermented +in a jar for nine days. [272] Sura was simply arrack prepared from +rice-flour, or rice-beer. + + + + +6. Subsequent prohibition of alcohol. + +Though in the cold regions of Central Asia the cheering and warming +liquor had been held divine, in the hot plains of India the evil +effects of alcohol were apparently soon realised. "Even more bold is +the scorn of the gods in Hymn x. 119 of the Rig-Veda, which introduces +Indra in his merriest humour, ready to give away everything, ready to +destroy the earth and all that it contains, boasting of his greatness +in ridiculous fashion--all this because, as the refrain tells us, he is +in an advanced state of intoxication caused by excessive appreciation +of the soma offered to him. Another Hymn (vii. 103) sings of the frogs, +comparing their voices to the noise of a Brahmanical school and their +hopping round the tank to the behaviour of drunken priests celebrating +a nocturnal offering of soma." [273] It seems clear, therefore, +that the evil effects of drunkenness were early realised, and led to +a religious prohibition of alcohol. Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitra writes: +[274] "But the fact remains unquestioned that from an early period +the Hindus have denounced in their sacred writings the use of wine as +sinful, and two of their greatest law-givers, Manu and Yajnavalkya, +held that the only expiation meet for a Brahman who had polluted +himself by drinking spirit was suicide by a draught of spirit or water +or cow's urine or milk, in a boiling state taken in a burning hot metal +pot. Angira, Vasishtha and Paithurasi restricted the drink to boiling +spirits alone. Dewala went a step farther and prescribed a draught +of molten silver, copper or lead as the most appropriate.... Manu +likewise provides for the judicial cognisance of such offences by +Brahmans, and ordains excommunication, and branding on the forehead +the figure of a bottle as the most appropriate punishment." + + + + +7. Spirits habitually drunk in ancient times. + +Nevertheless the consumption of alcohol was common in classical +times. Bharadwaja, a great sage, offered wine to Bharata and his +soldiers when they spent a night under his roof. [275] When Sita +crossed the Ganges on her way to the southern wilderness she begged the +river for a safe passage, saying, "Be merciful to me, O Goddess, and I +shall on my return home worship thee with a thousand jars of arrack and +dishes of well-dressed flesh meat." When crossing the Jumna she said, +"Be auspicious, O Goddess; I am crossing thee. When my husband has +accomplished his vow I shall worship thee with a thousand head of +cattle and a hundred jars of arrack." Similarly the companions of +Krishna, the Yadavas, destroyed each other when they were overcome +by drink; and many other instances are given by Dr. Rajendra Lal +Mitra. The Puranas abound in descriptions of wine and drinking, +and though the object of many of them is to condemn the use of wine +the inference is clear that there was a widespread malady which they +proposed to overcome. [276] Pulastya, an ancient sage and author of +one of the original Smritis, enumerates twelve different kinds of +liquor, besides the soma beer which is not usually reckoned under the +head of madya or wine, and his successors have added largely to the +list. The twelve principal liquors of this sage are those of the jack +fruit, the grape, honey or mead, date-liquor, palm-liquor or toddy, +sugarcane-liquor, mahua-liquor, rum and those made from long-pepper, +soap-berries and cocoanuts. [277] All these drinks were not merely +fermented, but distilled and flavoured with different kinds of spices, +fruits and herbs; they were thus varieties of spirits or liqueurs. It +is probable that without the use of glass bottles and corks it would +be very difficult to keep fermented wine for any length of time in +the Indian climate. But spirits drunk neat as they were would produce +more markedly evil results in a hot country, and would strengthen and +accelerate the reaction against alcoholic liquor, which has gone so +far that probably a substantial majority at least of the inhabitants +of India are total abstainers. To this good result the adoption of +Buddhism as stated by Dr. Mitra no doubt largely contributed. This was +for some centuries the state religion, and was a strong force in aid +of temperance as well as of abstention from flesh. The Sivite revival +reacted in favour of liquor drinking as well as of the consumption +of drugs. But the prohibition of alcohol has again been a leading +tenet of practically all the Vaishnava reforming sects. + + + + +8. Drunkenness and divine inspiration. + +The intoxication of alcohol is considered by primitive people as +a form of divine inspiration or possession like epileptic fits and +insanity. This is apparently the explanation of the Vedic liquor, Soma, +being deified as one of the greatest gods. In later Hindu mythology, +Varuni, the goddess of wine, was produced when the gods churned the +ocean with the mountain Mandara as a churning-stick on the back of +the tortoise, Vishnu, and the serpent as a rope, for the purpose +of restoring to man the comforts lost during the great flood. [278] +Varuni was considered to be the consort of Varuna, the Vedic Neptune. + +Similarly the Bacchantes in their drunken frenzy were considered to be +possessed by the wine-god Dionysus. "The Aztecs regarded pulque or the +wine of the country as bad, on account of the wild deeds which men did +under its influence. But these wild deeds were believed to be the acts, +not of the drunken man, but of the wine-god by whom he was possessed +and inspired; and so seriously was this theory of inspiration held that +if any one spoke ill of or insulted a tipsy man, he was liable to be +punished for disrespect to the wine-god incarnate in his votary." [279] +Sir James Frazer thinks that the grape-juice was also considered to +be the blood of the vine. At one time the arrack or rice-beer liquor +was also considered by the Hindus as holy and purifying. Siva says to +his consort: "Oh, sweet-speaking goddess, the salvation of Brahmans +depends on drinking wine.... No one becomes a Brahman by repeating the +Gayatri, the mother of the Vedas; he is called a Brahman only when he +has knowledge of Brahma. The ambrosia of the gods is their Brahma, +and on earth it is arrack, and because one attains the character of +a god (suratva) therefore is arrack called sura." [280] The Sakta +Tantras insist upon the use of wine as an element of devotion. The +Kaulas, who are the most ardent followers of the Sakta Tantras, +celebrate their rites at midnight in a closed room, when they sit in +a circle round a jar of country arrack, one or more young women of +a lewd character being in the company; they drink, drink and drink +until they fall down on the ground in utter helplessness, then rising +again they drink in the hope of never having a second birth. [281] +"I knew a highly respectable widow lady, connected with one of the +most distinguished families in Calcutta, who belonged to the Kaula +sect, and had survived the 75th anniversary of her birthday, who never +said her prayers (and she did so regularly every morning and evening) +without touching the point of her tongue with a tooth-pick dipped +in a phial of arrack, and sprinkling a few drops of the liquor on +the flowers which she offered to her god. I doubt very much if she +had ever drunk a wine-glassful of arrack at once in all her life, and +certain it is that she never had any idea of the pleasures of drinking; +but as a faithful Kaula she felt herself in duty bound to observe the +mandates of her religion with the greatest scrupulousness." [282] +In this case it seems clear that the liquor was considered to have +a purifying effect, which was perhaps especially requisite for the +offerings of a widow. + + + + +9. Sanctity of liquor among the Gonds and other castes. + +Similarly the Gonds and Baigas revere the mahua tree and consider the +liquor distilled from its flowers as sacred and purificatory. At a Gond +wedding the sacred post round which the couple go is made of the wood +of the mahua tree. The Bhatras of Bastar also use the mahua for the +wedding post, and the Sonkars of Chhattisgarh a forked branch of the +tree. Minor caste offences are expiated among the Gonds by a fine of +liquor, and by drinking it the culprit is purified. At a Gond funeral +one man may be seen walking with a bottle or two of liquor slung to +his side; this is drunk by all the party on the spot after the burial +or burning of the corpse as a means of purification. Among the Korwas +and other tribes the Baiga or priest protects the village from ghosts +by sprinkling a line of liquor all round the boundary, over which the +ghosts cannot pass. Similarly during epidemics of cholera liquor is +largely used in the rites of the Baigas for averting the disease and +is offered to the goddess. At their weddings the Mahars drink together +ceremoniously, a pot of liquor being placed on a folded cloth and +all the guests sitting round it in a circle. An elder man then lays a +new piece of cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup of the +liquor himself and hands round a cupful to every person present. At +the Hareli or festival of the new green vegetation in July the Gonds +take the branches of four kinds of trees and place them at the corners +of their fields and also inside the house over the door. They pour ghi +(butter) on the fire as incense and an offering to the deities. Then +they go to the meeting-place of the village and there they all take a +bottle or two of liquor each and drink together, having first thrown +a little on the ground as an offering. Then they invite each other +to their houses to take food. The Baigas do not observe Hareli, +but on any moonlight night in Shrawan (July) they will go to the +field where they have sown grain and root up a few plants and bring +them to the house, and, laying them on a clean place, pour ghi and +a little liquor over them. Then they take the corn plants back to +the field and replace them. For these rites and for offerings to the +deities of disease the Gonds say that the liquor should be distilled +at home by the person who offers the sacrifice and not purchased from +the Government contractor. This is a reason or at any rate an excuse +for the continuance of the practice of illicit distillation. Hindus +generally make a libation to Devi before drinking liquor. They pour +a little into their hand and sprinkle it in a circle on the ground, +invoking the goddess. The palm-tree is also held sacred on account of +the tari or toddy obtained from it. "The shreds of the holy palm-tree, +holy because liquor-yielding, are worn by some of the early Konkan +tribes and by some of the Konkan village gods. The strip of palm-leaf +is the origin of the shape of one of the favourite Hindu gold bracelet +patterns." [283] + + + + +10. Drugs also considered divine. + +The abstinence from liquor enjoined by modern Hinduism to the higher +castes of Hindus has unfortunately not extended to the harmful drugs, +opium, and ganja [284] or Indian hemp with its preparations. On +the contrary ganja is regularly consumed by Hindu ascetics, +whether devotees of Siva or Vishnu, though it is more favoured by +the Sivite Jogis. The blue throat of Siva or Mahadeo is said to be +due to the enormous draughts of bhang [285] which he was accustomed +to swallow. The veneration attached to these drugs may probably be +explained by the delusion that the pleasant dreams and visions obtained +under their influence are excursions of the spirit into paradise. It +is a common belief among primitive people that during sleep the soul +leaves the body and that dreams are the actual experiences of the +soul when travelling over the world apart from the body. [286] The +principal aim of Hindu asceticism is also the complete conquest of all +sensation and movement in the body, so that while it is immobile the +spirit freed from the trammels of the body and from all worldly cares +and concerns may, as it is imagined, enter into communion with and be +absorbed in the deity. Hence the physical inertia and abnormal mental +exaltation produced by these drugs would be an ideal condition to the +Hindu ascetic; the body is lulled to immobility and it is natural that +he should imagine that the delightful fantasies of his drugged brain +are beatific visions of heaven. Ganja and bhang are now considered +sacred as being consumed by Mahadeo, and are offered to him. Before +smoking ganja a Hindu will say, 'May it reach you, Shankar,' [287] +that is, the smoke of the ganja, like the sweet savour of a sacrifice; +and before drinking bhang he will pour a little on the ground and say +'Jai Shankar.' [288] Similarly when cholera visits a village and +various articles of dress with food and liquor are offered to the +cholera goddess, Marhai Mata, smokers of ganja and madak [289] will +offer a little of their drugs. Hindu ascetics who smoke ganja are +accustomed to mix with it some seeds of the dhatura (Datura alba), +which have a powerful stupefying effect. In large quantities these +seeds are a common narcotic poison, being administered to travellers +and others by criminals. This tree is sacred to Siva, and the purple +and white flowers are offered on his altars, and probably for this +reason it is often found growing in villages so that the poisonous +seeds are readily available. Its sanctity apparently arises from the +narcotic effects produced by the seeds. + +The conclusion of hostilities and ratification of peace after a +Bhil fight was marked by the solemn administration of opium to all +present by the Jogi or Gammaiti priests. [290] This incident recalls +the pipe of peace of the North American Indians, among whom a similar +divine virtue was no doubt ascribed to tobacco. In ancient Greece the +priestesses of Apollo consumed the leaves of the laurel to produce the +prophetic ecstasy; the tree was therefore held sacred and associated +with Apollo and afterwards developed into a goddess in the shape +of Daphne pursued by Apollo and transformed into a laurel. [291] +The laurel was also considered to have a purifying or expiatory +effect like alcoholic liquor in India. Wreaths of laurel were worn +by such heroes as Apollo and Cadmus before engaging in battle to +cleanse themselves from the pollution of bloodshed, and hence the +laurel-wreath afterwards became the crown of victory. [292] + +In India bhang was regularly drunk by the Rajputs before going +into battle, to excite their courage and render them insensible to +pain. The effects produced were probably held to be caused by divine +agency. Herodotus says that the Scythians had a custom of burning the +seeds of the hemp plant in religious ceremonies and that they became +intoxicated with the fumes. [293] Ganja is the hashish of the Old +Man of the Mountain and of Monte Cristo. The term hashshash, meaning +'a smoker or eater of hemp,' was first applied to Arab warriors in +Syria at the time of the Crusades; from its plural hashshasheen our +word assassin is derived. [294] + + + + +11. Opium and ganja. + +The sacred or divine character attributed to the Indian drugs in spite +of their pernicious effects has thus probably prevented any organised +effort for their prohibition. Buchanan notes that "No more blame +follows the use of opium and ganja than in Europe that of wine; yet +smoking tobacco is considered impure by the highest castes." [295] It +is said, however, that a Brahman should abstain from drugs until he is +in the last or ascetic stage of life. In India opium is both eaten and +smoked. It is administered to children almost from the time of their +birth, partly perhaps because its effects are supposed to be beneficial +and also to prevent them from crying and keep them quiet while their +parents are at work. One of the favourite methods of killing female +children was to place a fatal dose of opium on the nipple of the +mother's breast. Many children continue to receive small quantities +of opium till they are several years old, sometimes eight or nine, +when it is gradually abandoned. It can scarcely be doubted that the +effect of the drug must be to impair their health and enfeeble their +vitality. The effect of eating opium on adults is much less pernicious +than when the habit of smoking it is acquired. Madak or opium prepared +for smoking may not now be sold, but people make it for themselves, +heating the opium in a little brass cup over a fire with an infusion +of tamarind leaves. It is then made into little balls and put into the +pipe. Opium-smokers are gregarious and partake of the drug together. As +the fumes mount to their brains, their intellects become enlivened, +their tongues unloosed and the conversation ranges over all subjects +in heaven and earth. This factitious excitement must no doubt be a +powerful attraction to people whose lives are as dull as that of the +average Hindu. And thus they become madakis or confirmed opium-smokers +and are of no more use in life. Dhimars or fishermen consume opium and +ganja largely under the impression that these drugs prevent them from +taking cold. Ganja is smoked and is usually mixed with tobacco. It is +much less injurious than opium in the same form, except when taken in +large quantities, and is also slower in acquiring a complete hold over +its votaries. Many cultivators buy a little ganja at the weekly bazar +and have one pipeful each as a treat. Sweepers are greatly addicted +to ganja, and their patron saint Lalbeg was frequently in a comatose +condition from over-indulgence in the drug. Ahirs or herdsmen also +smoke it to while away the long days in the forests. But the habitual +consumers of either kind of drug are now only a small fraction of the +population, while English education and the more strenuous conditions +of modern life have effected a substantial decline in their numbers, +at least among the higher classes. At the same time a progressive +increase is being effected by Government in the retail price of the +drugs, and the number of vend licences has been very greatly reduced. + +The prohibition of wine to Muhammadans is held to include drugs, but +it is not known how far the rule is strictly observed. But addiction +to drugs is at any rate uncommon among Muhammadans. + + + + +12. Tobacco. + +No kind of sanctity attaches to tobacco and, as has been seen, certain +classes of Brahmans are forbidden to smoke though they may chew the +leaves. Tobacco is prohibited by the Sikhs, the Satnamis and some other +Vaishnava sects. The explanation of this attitude is simple if, as is +supposed, tobacco was first introduced into India by the Portuguese in +the fifteenth century. [296] In this case as a new and foreign product +it could have no sacred character, only those things being held sacred +and the gifts of the gods whose origin is lost in antiquity. In a note +on the subject [297] Mr. Ganpat Rai shows that several references to +smoking and also to the huqqa are found in ancient Sanskrit literature; +but it does not seem clear that the plant smoked was tobacco and, on +the other hand, the similarity of the vernacular to the English name +[298] is strong evidence in favour of its foreign origin. + + + + +13. Customs in connection with drinking. + +The country liquor, consisting of spirits distilled from the flowers +of the mahua tree, is an indispensable adjunct to marriage and other +ceremonial feasts among the lower castes of Hindus and the non-Aryan +tribes. It is usually drunk before the meal out of brass vessels, +cocoanut-shells or leaf-cups, water being afterwards taken with +the food itself. If an offender has to give a penalty feast for +readmission to caste but the whole burden of the expense is beyond +his means, other persons who may have committed minor offences and +owe something to the caste on that account are called upon to provide +the liquor. Similarly at the funeral feast the heir and chief mourner +may provide the food and more distant relatives the liquor. The Gonds +never take food while drinking, and as a rule one man does not drink +alone. Three or four of them go to the liquor-shop together and each in +turn buys a whole bottle of liquor which they share with each other, +each bottle being paid for by one of the company and not jointly. And +if a friend from another village turns up and is invited to drink he +is not allowed to pay anything. In towns there will be in the vicinity +of the liquor-shop retailers of little roasted balls of meat on sticks +and cakes of gram-flour fried in salt and chillies. These the customers +eat, presumably to stimulate their thirst or as a palliative to the +effects of the spirit. Illicit distillation is still habitual among +the Gonds of Mandla, who have been accustomed to make their own liquor +from time immemorial. In the rains, when travelling is difficult and +the excise officers cannot descend on them without notice, they make +the liquor in their houses. In the open season they go to the forest +and find some spot secluded behind rocks and also near water. When +the fermented mahua is ready they put up the distilling vat in the +middle of the day so that the smoke may be less perceptible, and +one of them will climb a tree and keep watch for the approach of the +Excise Sub-Inspector and his myrmidons while the other distils. + + + + + + +KAMAR [299] + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. Origin and traditions. + 2. Subdivisions and marriage. + 3. The sister's son. + 4. Menstruation. + 5. Birth customs. + 6. Death and inheritance. + 7. Religious beliefs. + 8. Veneration of iron and liquor. + 9. Social customs and caste penalties. + 10. Tattooing. + 11. Hair. + 12. Occupation and manner of life. + 13. Their skill with bows and arrows. + + + + +1. Origin and traditions. + +Kamar.--A small Dravidian tribe exclusively found in the Raipur +District and adjoining States. They numbered about 7000 persons +in 1911, and live principally in the Khariar and Bindranawagarh +zamindaris of Raipur. In Bengal and Chota Nagpur the term Kamar +is merely occupational, implying a worker in iron, and similarly +Kammala in the Telugu country is a designation given to the five +artisan castes. Though the name is probably the same the Kamars of +the Central Provinces are a purely aboriginal tribe and there is +little doubt that they are an offshoot of the Gonds, nor have they +any traditions of ever having been metal-workers. They claim to be +autochthonous like most of the primitive tribes. They tell a long +story of their former ascendancy, saying that a Kamar was the original +ruler of Bindranawagarh. But a number of Kamars one day killed the +bhimraj bird which had been tamed and taught hawking by a foreigner +from Delhi. He demanded satisfaction, and when it was refused went to +Delhi and brought man-eating soldiers from there, who ate up all the +Kamars except one pregnant woman. She took refuge in a Brahman's hut +in Patna and there had a son, whom she exposed on a dung-heap for fear +of scandal, as she was a widow at the time. Hence the boy was called +Kachra-Dhurwa or rubbish and dust. This name may be a token of the +belief of the Kamars that they were born from the earth as insects +generate in dung and decaying organisms. Similarly one great subtribe +of the Gonds are called Dhur or dust Gonds. Kachra-Dhurwa was endowed +with divine strength and severed the head of a goat made of iron with +a stick of bamboo. On growing up he collected his fellow-tribesmen +and slaughtered all the cannibal soldiers, regaining his ancestral +seat in Bindranawagarh. It is noticeable that the Kamars call the +cannibal soldiers Aghori, the name of a sect of ascetics who eat +human flesh. They still point to various heaps of lime-encrusted +fossils in Bindranawagarh as the bones of the cannibal soldiers. The +state of the Kamars is so primitive that it does not seem possible +that they could ever have been workers in iron, but they may perhaps, +like the Agarias, be a group of the Gonds who formerly quarried iron +and thus obtained their distinctive name. + + + + +2. Subdivisions and marriage. + +They have two subdivisions, the Bundhrajia and Makadia. The latter +are so called because they eat monkeys and are looked down on by the +others. They have only a few gots or septs, all of which have the same +names as those of Gond septs. The meaning of the names has now been +forgotten. Their ceremonies also resemble those of the Gonds, and there +can be little doubt that they are an offshoot of that tribe. Marriage +within the sept is prohibited, but is permitted between the children +of brothers and sisters or of two sisters. Those who are well-to-do +marry their children at about ten years old, but among the bulk of +the caste adult-marriage is in fashion, and the youths and maidens +are sometimes allowed to make their own choice. At the betrothal the +boy and girl are made to stand together so that the caste panchayat +or elders may see the suitability of the match, and a little wine is +sprinkled in the name of the gods. The marriage ceremony is a simple +one, the marriage-post being erected at the boy's house. The party go +to the girl's house to fetch her, and there is a feast, followed by a +night of singing and dancing. They then return to the boy's house and +the couple go round the sacred pole and throw rice over each other +seven times. All the guests also throw rice over the couple with +the object, it is said, of scaring off the spirits who are always +present on this occasion, and protecting the bride and bridegroom +from harm. But perhaps the rice is really meant to give fertility to +the match. The wife remains with her husband for four days and then +they return to the house of her parents, where the wedding clothes +stained yellow with turmeric must be washed. After this they again +proceed to the bridegroom's house and live together. Polygamy and +widow-marriage are allowed, the ceremony in the marriage of a widow +consisting simply in putting bangles on her wrists and giving her +a piece of new cloth. The Kamars never divorce their wives, however +loose their conduct may be, as they say that a lawful wife is above +all suspicion. They also consider it sinful to divorce a wife. The +liaison of an unmarried girl is passed over even with a man outside +the caste, unless he is of a very low caste, such as a Ganda. + + + + +3. The sister's son. + +As among some of the other primitive tribes, a man stands in a special +relation to his sister's children. The marriage of his children +with his sister's children is considered as the most suitable +union. If a man's sister is poor he will arrange for the wedding +of her children. He will never beat his sister's children, however +much they may deserve it, and he will not permit his sister's son +or daughter to eat from the dish from which he eats. This special +connection between a maternal uncle and his nephew is held to be a +survival of the matriarchate, when a man stood in the place a father +now occupies to his sister's children, the real father having nothing +to do with them. + + + + +4. Menstruation. + +During the period of her monthly impurity a woman is secluded for eight +days. She may not prepare food nor draw water nor worship the gods, +but she may sweep the house and do outdoor work. She sleeps on the +ground and every morning spreads fresh cowdung over the place where +she has slept. The Kamars think that a man who touched a woman in +this condition would be destroyed by the household god. When a woman +in his household is impure in this manner a man will bathe before +going into the forest lest he should pollute the forest gods. + + + + +5. Birth customs. + +A woman is impure for six days after a birth until the performance +of the Chathi or sixth-day ceremony, when the child's head is shaved +and the mother and child are bathed and their bodies rubbed with oil +and turmeric. After this a woman can go about her work in the house, +but she may not cook food nor draw water for two and a half months +after the birth of a male child, nor for three months after that of a +female one. Till the performance of the Chathi ceremony the husband +is also impure, and he may not worship the gods or go hunting or +shooting or even go for any distance into the forest. If a child is +born within six months of the death of any person in the family, they +think that the dead relative has been reborn in the child and give +the child the same name, apparently without distinction of sex. If a +mother's milk runs dry and she cannot suckle her child they give her +fresh fish and salt to eat, and think that this will cause the milk +to flow. The idea of eating the fish is probably that being a denizen +of the liquid element it will produce liquid in the mother's body, +but it is not clear whether the salt has any special meaning. + + + + +6. Death and inheritance. + +The dead are buried with the head to the north, and mourning +is nominally observed for three days. But they have no rules of +abstinence, and do not even bathe to purify themselves as almost all +castes do. Sons inherit equally, and daughters do not share with +sons. But if there are no sons, then an unmarried daughter or one +married to a Lamsena, or man who has served for her, and living in +the house, takes the whole property for her lifetime, after which +it reverts to her father's family. Widows, Mr. Ganpati Giri states, +only inherit in the absence of male heirs. + + + + +7. Religious beliefs. + +They worship Dulha Deo and Devi, and have a firm belief in magic. They +tell a curious story about the origin of the world, which recalls +that of the Flood. They say that in the beginning God created a man +and a woman to whom two children of opposite sex were born in their +old age. Mahadeo, however, sent a deluge over the world in order to +drown a jackal who had angered him. The old couple heard that there +was going to be a deluge, so they shut up their children in a hollow +piece of wood with provision of food to last them until it should +subside. They then closed up the trunk, and the deluge came and +lasted for twelve years, the old couple and all other living things +on the earth being drowned, but the trunk floated on the face of the +waters. After twelve years Mahadeo created two birds and sent them to +see whether his enemy the jackal had been drowned. The birds flew over +all the corners of the world, but saw nothing except a log of wood +floating on the surface of the water, on which they perched. After +a short time they heard low and feeble voices coming from inside +the log. They heard the children saying to each other that they +only had provision for three days left. So the birds flew away and +told Mahadeo, who then caused the flood to subside, and taking out +the children from the log of wood, heard their story. He thereupon +brought them up, and they were married, and Mahadeo gave the name +of a different caste to every child who was born to them, and from +them all the inhabitants of the world are descended. The fact that +the Kamars should think their deity capable of destroying the whole +world by a deluge, in order to drown a jackal which had offended him, +indicates how completely they are wanting in any exalted conception of +morality. They are said to have no definite ideas of a future life nor +any belief in a resurrection of the body. But they believe in future +punishment in the case of a thief, who, they say, will be reborn +as a bullock in the house of the man whose property he has stolen, +or will in some other fashion expiate his crime. They think that the +sun and moon are beings in human shape, and that darkness is caused +by the sun going to sleep. They also think that a railway train is +a live and sentient being, and that the whistle of the engine is its +cry, and they propitiate the train with offerings lest it should do +them some injury. When a man purposes to go out hunting, Mr. Ganpati +Giri states, he consults the village priest, who tells him whether he +will fail or succeed. If the prediction is unfavourable he promises +a fowl or a goat to his family god in order to obtain his assistance, +and then confidently expects success. When an animal has been killed +and brought home, the hunter cuts off the head, and after washing +it with turmeric powder and water makes an offering of it to the +forest god. Ceremonial fishing expeditions are sometimes held, in +which all the men and women of the village participate, and on such +occasions the favour of the water-goddess is first invoked with an +offering of five chickens and various feminine adornments, such as +vermilion, lamp-black for the eyes, small glass bangles and a knot +of ribbons made of cotton or silk, after which a large catch of fish +is anticipated. The men refrain from visiting their wives on the day +before they start for a hunting or fishing expedition. + + + + +8. Veneration of iron and liquor. + +The tribe have a special veneration for iron, which they now say is +the emblem of Durga Mata or the goddess of smallpox. On their chief +festivals of Hareli and Dasahra all iron implements are washed and +placed together in the house, where they are worshipped with offerings +of rice, flowers and incense; nor may any iron tool be brought into +use on this day. On the day appointed for the worship of Dulha Deo, +the bridegroom god, or other important deities, and on the Dasahra +festival, they will not permit fire or anything else to be taken out +of the house. Before drinking liquor they will pour a few drops on +the ground, making a libation first to mother-earth, then to their +family and other important gods, and lastly to their ancestors. + + + + +9. Social customs and caste penalties. + +The Kamars will eat with all except the very lowest castes, and do not +refuse any kind of food. The Bundhrajias, however, abstain from the +flesh of snakes, crocodiles and monkeys, and on this account claim to +be superior to the Makadias who eat these animals. Temporary exclusion +from caste is imposed for the usual offences, and in serious cases, +such as adultery with a woman of impure caste or taking food from her, +the penalty is severe. The offender puts a straw and a piece of iron +between his teeth, and stands before the elders with one leg lifted in +his clasped hands. He promises never to repeat the offence nor permit +his children to do so, and falls prostrate at the feet of each elder, +imploring his forgiveness. He supplies the elders with rice, pulse, +salt and vegetables for two days, and on the third day he and his +family prepare a feast with one or more goats and two rupees' worth +of liquor. The elders eat of this in his house, and readmit him to +social intercourse. + + + + +10. Tattooing. + +The women are tattooed either before or after marriage, the usual +figures being a peacock on the shoulders, a scorpion on the back of +the hand, and dots representing flies on the fingers. On their arms +and legs they have circular lines of dots representing the ornaments +usually worn, and they say that if they are destitute in the other +world they will be able to sell these. This indicates that the more +civilised of them, at any rate, now believe in a future life. They +also have circular dotted lines round the knees which they say will +help them to climb to heaven. Like the Gonds the men scarify their +bodies by burning the outer skin of the forearm in three or four +places with a small piece of burning cloth. + + + + +11. Hair. + +The men shave the whole head on the death of a father or other +venerable relative, but otherwise they never cut their hair, and let +it grow long, twisting it into a bunch at the back of the head. They +shave off or eradicate the hair of the face and pubes, but that on +other parts of the body is allowed to remain. The hair of the head +is considered to be sacred. + + + + +12. Occupation and manner of life. + +The tribe wear only the narrowest possible strip of cloth round the +loins, and another strip on the head, one end of which is often allowed +to hang down over the ear. Formerly they lived by dahya cultivation, +burning down patches of forest and scattering seed on the ground +fertilised by the ashes, and they greatly resent the prohibition of +this destructive method. They have now taken to making baskets and +other articles from the wood of the bamboo. They are of dirty habits, +and seldom wash themselves. Forty years ago their manner of life was +even ruder than at present, as shown in the following notice [300] +of them by Mr. Ball in 1876: + +"Proceeding along the bed of the valley I came upon two colonies of +a wild race of people called Kamars by their neighbours. They were +regular Troglodytes in their habits, dwelling in caves and existing +chiefly on roots and fish. It is singular to observe how little the +people of these wild races do to protect themselves from the inclemency +of the weather. In one of these caves the sole protection from the +air was a lean-to of loosely placed branches. The people seemed to +be very timid, hiding themselves on our approach. I did not therefore +like to attempt an examination of their dwellings. After some calling +on our part one man was induced to make his appearance. He was a most +wretched-looking, leprous object, having lost several fingers and +toes. He could give no very definite explanation as to his means of +subsistence. All he could say was that he lived 'by picking up odds and +ends here and there.' However, he seemed to be able to afford himself +the solace of tobacco. A few cocks and hens at one of the caves, +and a goat at the other, were the only domestic animals which I saw." + + + + +13. Their skill with bows and arrows. + +The tribe are of small stature. They are very fond of hunting, and are +expert at using their bows and arrows, with which they have killed +even bison. Mr. W. E. Ley, C.S., relates the following particulars +of a recent murder by a Kamar in Raipur: Two Hindus went to a Kamar's +house in the jungle to dun him for a debt. He could not pay the debt, +but invited them to take food in his house. At the meal the creditor's +companion said the food was bad, and a quarrel thereupon ensuing, +slapped the Kamar in the face. The latter started up, snatched up his +bow and arrow and axe, and ran away into the jungle. The Hindus then +set out for home, and as they were afraid of being attacked by the +Kamar, they took his brother with them as a protection. Nevertheless +the Kamar shot one of them through the side, the arrow passing through +the arm and penetrating the lung. He then shot the other through the +chest, and running in, mutilated his body in a shocking manner. When +charged with the murders he confessed them freely, saying that he +was a wild man of the woods and knew no better. + + + + + + +KANJAR + + +[Bibliography: Mr. J. C. Nesfield's The Kanjars of Upper India, +Calcutta Review, vol. lxxvii., 1883; Mr. Crooke's Castes and Tribes, +art. Kanjar; Major Gunthorpe's Criminal Tribes; Mr. Kitts' Berar +Census Report (1881); Mr. Gayer's Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the +Central Provinces.] + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Derivation of the Kanjars from the Doms. + 2. The Kanjars and the Gipsies. + 3. The Thugs derived from the Kanjars. + 4. The Doms. + 5. The criminal Kanjars. + 6. The Kunchband Kanjars. + 7. Marriage and religion. + 8. Social customs. + 9. Industrial arts. + + + + +1. Derivation of the Kanjars from the Doms. + +Kanjar.--A name applied somewhat loosely to various small communities +of a gipsy character who wander about the country. In 1911 about +1000 Kuchbandhia Kanjars were returned in the Province. In Berar +the Kanjars seem to be practically identical with the Sansias; +Major Gunthorpe [301] gives Kanjar and Sansia as alternative names +of the same caste of criminals, and this is also done by Mr. Kennedy +in Bombay. [302] Mr. Kitts writes of them: [303] "The Deccani and +Marwari Kanjars were originally Bhats (bards) of the Jat tribe; +and as they generally give themselves out to be Bhats are probably +not included at all among the Kanjars returned at the census. They +are a vagrant people, living in tents and addicted to crime. The +women are good-looking; some are noted for their obscene songs, +filthy alike in word and gesture; while others, whose husbands play +on the sarangi, lead a life of immorality. The men are often skilful +acrobats." And in another passage: [304] "The Sansia family or the +'Long Firm' of India includes two principal divisions represented in +Berar by the Kanjars and Kolhatis respectively. They will eat, drink +and smoke together, and occasionally join in committing dacoity. They +eat all kinds of meat and drink all liquors; they are lax of morals +and loose of life." Now in northern India the business of acting as +bards to the Jats and begging from them is the traditional function +of the Sansias; and we may therefore conclude that so far as Berar +and the Maratha Districts are concerned the Kanjars are identical +with the Sansias, while the Kolhatis mentioned by Mr. Kitts are the +same people as the Berias, as shown in the article on Kolhati, and +the Berias themselves are another branch of the Sansias. [305] There +seems some reason to suppose that these four closely allied groups, +the Kanjar or Sansia, and the Kolhati or Beria, may have their origin +from the great Dom caste of menials and scavengers in Hindustan and +Bengal. In the Punjab the Doms are the regular bards and genealogists +of the lower castes, being known also as Mirasi: "The two words are +used throughout the Province as absolutely synonymous. The word Mirasi +is derived from the Arabic miras or inheritance; and the Mirasi is +to the inferior agricultural castes and the outcaste tribes what +the Bhat is to the Rajputs." [306] In the article on Sansia it is +shown that the primary calling of the Sansias was to act as bards and +genealogists of the Jats; and this common occupation is to some extent +in favour of the original identity of the two castes Dom and Sansia, +though Sir D. Ibbetson was not of this opinion. [307] In the United +Provinces Mr. Crooke gives the Jallad or executioners as one of the +main divisions of the Kanjars; [308] and the Jallads of Umballa are +said to be the descendants of a Kanjar family who were attached to +the Delhi Court as executioners. [309] But the Jallad or supwala is +also a name of the Doms. "The term Jallad, which is an Arabic name +for 'A public flogger,' is more especially applied to those Doms who +are employed in cities to kill ownerless dogs and to act as public +executioners." [310] Mr. Gayer states that as the result of special +inquiries made by an experienced police-officer it would appear that +these Jallad Kanjars are really Doms. [311] In Gujarat the Mirs or +Mirasis are also known as Dom after the tribe of that name; they +were originally of two classes, one the descendants of Gujarat Bhats +or bards, the other from northern India, partly of Bhat descent and +partly connected with the Doms. [312] And the Sansias and Berias in +Bombay when accompanied by their families usually pass themselves +off as Gujarati Bhats, that is, bards of the Jat caste from Marwar +or of the Kolis from Gujarat. [313] Major Gunthorpe states that the +Kolhatis or Berias of Berar appear to be the same as the Domras of +Bengal; [314] and Mr. Kitts that the Kham Kolhatis are the Domarus of +Telingana. [315] In writing of the Kanjar bards Sherring also says: +"These are the Kanjars of Gondwana, the Sansis of northern India; they +are the most desperate of all dacoits and wander about the country +as though belonging to the Gujarati Domtaris or showmen." The above +evidence seems sufficient to establish a prima facie case in favour +of the Dom origin of these gipsy castes. It may be noticed further +that the Jallad Kanjars of the United Provinces are also known as +Supwala or makers of sieves and winnowing-fans, a calling which belongs +specially to the Doms, Bhangis, and other sweeper castes. Both Doms +and Bhangis have divisions known as Bansphor or 'breaker of bamboos,' +a name which has the same signification as Supwala. Again, the deity +of the criminal Doms of Bengal is known as Sansari Mai. [316] + + + + +2. The Kanjars and the Gipsies. + +The Kanjars and Berias are the typical gipsy castes of India, and +have been supposed to be the parents of the European gipsies. On +this point Mr. Nesfield writes: "The commonly received legend is that +multitudes of Kanjars were driven out of India by the oppressions of +Tamerlane, and it is inferred that the gipsies of Europe are their +direct descendants by blood, because they speak like them a form of +the Hindi language." [317] Sir G. Grierson states: [318] "According to +the Shah-nama, the Persian monarch Bahram Gaur received in the fifth +century from an Indian king 12,000 musicians who were known as Luris, +and the Luris or Lulis, that is gipsies, of modern Persia are the +descendants of these." These people were also called Lutt, and hence +it was supposed that they were the Indian Jats. Sir G. Grierson, +however, shows it to be highly improbable that the Jats, one of +the highest castes of cultivators, could ever have furnished a huge +band of professional singers and dancers. He on the contrary derives +the gipsies from the Dom tribe: [319] "Mr. Leland has made a happy +suggestion that the original gipsies may have been Doms of India. +He points out that Romany is almost letter for letter the same as +Domni, the plural of Dom. Domni is the plural form in the Bhojpuri +dialect of the Bihari language. It was originally a genitive plural; +so that Romany-Rye, 'A gipsy gentleman,' may be well compared with +the Bhojpuri Domni Rai, 'A king of the Doms.' The Bhojpuri-speaking +Doms are a famous race, and they have many points of resemblance +with the gipsies of Europe. Thus they are darker in complexion +than the surrounding Biharis, are great thieves, live by hunting, +dancing and telling fortunes, their women have a reputation for making +love-philtres and medicines to procure abortion, they keep fowls (which +no orthodox Hindu will do), and are said to eat carrion. They are also +great musicians and horsemen. The gipsy grammar is closely connected +with Bhojpuri, and the following mongrel, half-gipsy, half-English +rhyme will show the extraordinary similarity of the two vocabularies: +[320] + + +Gipsy. The Rye (squire) he mores (hunts) adrey the wesh (wood) +Bhojpuri. Rai mare andal besh (Pers. bysh) + +Gipsy. The kaun-engro (ear-fellow, hare) and chiriclo (bird). +Bhojpuri. Kanwala chirin + +Gipsy. You sovs (sleep) with leste (him) drey (within) the wesh (wood) +Bhojpuri. soe andal besh + +Gipsy. And rigs (carry) for leste (him) the gono (sack, game-bag). +Bhojpuri. gon + +Gipsy. Oprey (above) the rukh (tree) adrey (within) the wesh (wood) +Bhojpuri. Upri rukh andal besh + +Gipsy. Are chiriclo (male-bird) and chiricli (female-bird). +Bhojpuri. chirin chirin + +Gipsy. Tuley (below) the rukh (tree) adrey (within) the wesh (wood) +Bhojpuri. Tule rukh andal besh + +Gipsy. Are pireno (lover) and pireni (lady-love). +Bhojpuri. pyara pyari + + +In the above it must be remembered that the verbal terminations of +the gipsy text are English and not gipsy." + +Sir G. Grierson also adds (in the passage first quoted): "I may note +here a word which lends a singular confirmation to the theory. It is +the gipsy term for bread, which is manro or manro. This is usually +connected either with the Gaudian manr 'rice-gruel' or with manrua, +the millet (Eleusine coracana). Neither of these agrees with the idea +of bread, but in the Magadhi dialect of Bihari, spoken south of the +Ganges in the native land of these Maghiya Doms, there is a peculiar +word manda or manra which means wheat, whence the transition to the +gipsy manro, bread, is eminently natural." + +The above argument renders it probable that the gipsies are derived +from the Doms; and as Mr. Nesfield gives it as a common legend that +they originated from the Kanjars, this is perhaps another connecting +link between the Doms and Kanjars. The word gipsy is probably an +abbreviation of 'Egyptian,' the country assigned as the home of the +gipsies in mediaeval times. It has already been seen that the Doms are +the bards and minstrels of the lower castes in the Punjab, and that the +Kanjars and Sansias, originally identical or very closely connected, +were in particular the bards of the Jats. It is a possible speculation +that they may have been mixed up with the lower classes of Jats or +have taken their name, and that this has led to the confusion between +the Jats and gipsies. Some support is afforded to this suggestion +by the fact that the Kanjars of Jubbulpore say that they have three +divisions, the Jat, Multani and Kuchbandia. The Jat Kanjars are, no +doubt, those who acted as bards to the Jats, and hence took the name; +and if the ancestors of these people emigrated from India they may +have given themselves out as Jat. + + + + +3. The Thugs derived from the Kanjars. + +In the article on Thug it is suggested that a large, if not the +principal, section of the Thugs were derived from the Kanjars. At the +Thug marriages an old matron would sometimes repeat, "Here's to the +spirits of those who once led bears and monkeys; to those who drove +bullocks and marked with the godini (tattooing-needle); and those +who made baskets for the head." And these are the occupations of the +Kanjars and Berias. The Goyandas of Jubbulpore, descendants of Thug +approvers, are considered to be a class of gipsy Muhammadans, akin to +or identical with the Kanjars, of whom the Multani subdivision are +also Muhammadans. Like the Kanjar women the Goyandas make articles +of net and string. There is also a colony of Berias in Jubbulpore, +and these are admittedly the descendants of Thugs who were located +there. If the above argument is well founded, we are led to the +interesting conclusion that four of the most important vagrant and +criminal castes of India, as well as the Mirasis or low-class Hindu +bards, the gipsies, and a large section of the Thugs, are all derived +from the great Dom caste. + + + + +4. The Doms. + +The Doms appear to be one of the chief aboriginal tribes of northern +India, who were reduced to servitude like the Mahars and Chamars. Sir +H. M. Elliot considered them to be "One of the original tribes of +India. Tradition fixes their residence to the north of the Ghagra, +touching the Bhars on the east in the vicinity of the Rohini. Several +old forts testify to their former importance, and still retain the +names of their founders, as, for instance, Domdiha and Domingarh in +the Gorakhpur district. Ramgarh and Sahukot on the Rohini are also +Dom forts." [321] Sir G. Grierson quotes Dr. Fleet as follows: "In a +south Indian inscription a king Rudradeva is said to have subdued a +certain Domma, whose strength evidently lay in his cavalry. No clue +is given as to who this Domma was, but he may have been the leader +of some aboriginal tribe which had not then lost all its power"; and +suggests that this Domma may have been a leader of the Doms, who would +then be shown to have been dominant in southern India. As already seen +there is a Domaru caste of Telingana, with whom Mr. Kitts identified +the Berias or Kolhatis. In northern India the Doms were reduced to +a more degraded condition than the other pre-Aryan tribes as they +furnished a large section of the sweeper caste. As has been seen also +they were employed as public executioners like the Mangs. This brief +mention of the Doms has been made in view of the interest attaching +to them on account of the above suggestions, and because there will +be no separate article on the caste. + + + + +5. The criminal Kanjars. + +In Berar two main divisions of the Kanjars may be recognised, the +Kunchbandhia or those who make weavers' brooms and are comparatively +honest, and the other or criminal Kanjars. [322] The criminal Kanjars +may again be divided into the Marwari and Deccani groups. They were +probably once the same, but the Deccanis, owing to their settlement +in the south, have adopted some Maratha or Gujarati fashions, and +speak the Marathi language; their women wear the angia or Maratha +breast-cloth fastening behind, and have a gold ornament shaped +like a flower in the nose; [323] while the Marwari Kanjars have no +breast-cloth and may not wear gold ornaments at all. The Deccani +Kanjars are fond of stealing donkeys, their habit being either to +mix their own herds with those of the village and drive them all off +together, or, if they catch the donkeys unattended, to secrete them +in some water-course, tying their legs together, and if they remain +undiscovered to remove them at nightfall. The animals are at once +driven away for a long distance before any attempt is made to dispose +of them. The Marwari Kanjars consider it derogatory to keep donkeys +and therefore do not steal these animals. They are preeminently +cattle-lifters and sheep-stealers, and their encampments may be +recognised by the numbers of bullocks and cows about them. Their +women wear the short Marwari petticoat reaching half-way between the +knees and ankles. Their hair is plaited over the forehead and cowrie +shells and brass ornaments like buttons are often attached in it. Bead +necklaces are much worn by the women and bead and horse-hair necklets +by the men. A peculiarity about the women is that they are confirmed +snuff-takers and consume great quantities of the weed in this form. The +women go into the towns and villages and give exhibitions of singing +and dancing; and picking up any information they can acquire about +the location of property, impart this to the men. Sometimes they +take service, and a case was known in Jubbulpore of Kanjar women +hiring themselves out as pankha-pullers, with the result that the +houses in which they were employed were subsequently robbed. [324] +It is said, however, that they do not regularly break into houses, +but confine themselves to lurking theft. I have thought it desirable +to record here the above particulars of the criminal Kanjars, taken +from Major Gunthorpe's account; for, though the caste is, as already +stated, identical with the Sansias, their customs in Berar differ +considerably from those of the Sansias of Central India, who are +treated of in the article on that caste. + + + + +6. The Kunchband Kanjars. + +We come, finally, to the Kunchband Kanjars, the most representative +section of the caste, who as a body are not criminals, or at any rate +less so than the others. The name Kunchband or Kuchband, by which they +are sometimes known, is derived from their trade of making brushes +(kunch) of the roots of khas-khas grass, which are used by weavers +for cleaning the threads entangled on the looms. This has given rise +to the proverb 'Kori ka bigari Kunchbandhia' or 'The Kunchbandhia +must look to the Kori (weaver) as his patron'; the point being that +the Kori is himself no better than a casual labourer, and a man who +is dependent on him must be in a poor way indeed. The Kunchbandhias +are also known in northern India as Sankat or Patharkat, because +they make and sharpen the household grinding-stones, this being the +calling of the Takankar Pardhis in the Maratha Districts, and as Goher +because they catch and eat the goh, the large lizard or iguana. [325] +Other divisions are the Dhobibans or washerman's race, the Lakarhar +or wood-cutters, and the Untwar or camelmen. + + + + +7. Marriage and religion. + +In the Central Provinces there are other divisions, as the Jat and +Multani Kanjars. They say they have two exogamous divisions, Kalkha and +Malha, and a member of either of these must take a wife from the other +division. Both the Kalkhas and Malhas are further divided into kuls +or sections, but the influence of these on marriage is not clear. At a +Kanjar marriage, Mr. Crooke states, the gadela or spade with which they +dig out the khas-khas grass and kill wolves or vermin, is placed in +the marriage pavilion during the ceremony. The bridegroom swears that +he will not drive away nor divorce his wife, and sometimes a mehar or +dowry is also fixed for the bride. The father-in-law usually, however, +remits a part or the whole of this subsequently, when the bridegroom +goes to take food at his house on festival occasions. Mr. Nesfield +states that the principal deity of the Kanjars is the man-god Mana, +who was not only the teacher and guide, but also the founder and +ancestor of the tribe. He is buried, as some Kanjars relate, at Kara +in the Allahabad District, not far from the Ganges and facing the old +city of Manikpur on the opposite bank. Mana is worshipped with special +ceremony in the rainy season, when the tribe is less migratory than in +the dry months of the year. On such occasions, if sufficient notice +is circulated, several encampments unite temporarily to pay honour +to their common ancestor. The worshippers collect near a tree under +which they sacrifice a pig, a goat, a sheep, or a fowl, and make an +offering of roasted flesh and spirituous liquor. Formerly, it is said, +they used to sacrifice a child, having first made it insensible with +fermented palm-juice or toddy. [326] They dance round the tree in +honour of Mana, and sing the customary songs in commemoration of his +wisdom and deeds of valour. + + + + +8. Social customs. + +The dead are usually buried, both male and female corpses being +laid on their faces with the feet pointing to the south. Kanjars +who become Muhammadans may be readmitted to the community after +the following ceremony. A pit is dug and the convert sits in it and +each Kanjar throws a little curds on to his body. He then goes and +bathes in a river, his tongue is touched or branded with heated gold +and he gives a feast to the community. A Kanjar woman who has lived +in concubinage with a Brahman, Rajput, Agarwal Bania, Kurmi, Ahir +or Lodhi may be taken back into the caste after the same ceremony; +but not one who has lived with a Kayasth, Sunar or Lohar or any lower +caste. A Kanjar is not put out of caste for being imprisoned, nor for +being beaten by an outsider, nor for selling shoes. If a man touches +his daughter-in-law even accidentally he is fined the sum of Rs. 2-8. + + + + +9. Industrial arts. + +The following account of the industries of the vagrant Kanjars was +written by Mr. Nesfield in 1883. In the Central Provinces many of +them are now more civilised, and some are employed in Government +service. Their women also make and retail string-net purses, balls +and other articles. + +"Among the arts of the Kanjar are making mats of the sirki reed, +baskets of wattled cane, fans of palm-leaves and rattles of plaited +straw: these last are now sold to Hindu children as toys, though +originally they may have been used by the Kanjars themselves (if we +are to trust to the analogy of other backward races) as sacred and +mysterious implements. From the stalks of the munj grass and from +the roots of the palas [327] tree they make ropes which are sold or +bartered to villagers in exchange for grain and milk. They prepare the +skins of which drums are made and sell them to Hindu musicians; though, +probably, as in the case of the rattle, the drum was originally used +by the Kanjars themselves and worshipped as a fetish; for even the +Aryan tribes, who are said to have been far more advanced than the +indigenous races, sang hymns in honour of the drum or dundubhi as +if it were something sacred. They make plates of broad leaves which +are ingeniously stitched together by their stalks; and plates of +this kind are very widely used by the inferior Indian castes and by +confectioners and sellers of sweetmeats. The mats of sirki reed with +which they cover their own movable leaf huts are models of neatness +and simplicity and many of these are sold to cart-drivers. The toddy +or juice of the palm tree, which they extract and ferment by methods +of their own and partly for their own use, finds a ready sale among +low-caste Hindus in villages and market towns. They are among the +chief stone-cutters in Upper India, especially in the manufacture +of the grinding-mill which is very widely used. This consists of +two circular stones of equal diameter; the upper one, which is the +thicker and heavier, revolves on a wooden pivot fixed in the centre +of the lower one and is propelled by two women, each holding the +same handle. But it is also not less frequent for one woman to grind +alone." It is perhaps not realised what this business of grinding her +own grain instead of buying flour means to the Indian woman. She rises +before daybreak to commence the work, and it takes her perhaps two +or three hours to complete the day's provision. Grain-grinding for +hire is an occupation pursued by poor women. The pisanhari, as she +is called, receives an anna (penny) for grinding 16 lbs. of grain, +and can get through 30 lbs. a day. In several localities temples are +shown supposed to have been built by some pious pisanhari from her +earnings. "The Kanjars," Mr. Nesfield continues, "also gather the +white wool-like fibre which grows in the pods of the semal or Indian +cotton tree and twist it into thread for the use of weavers. [328] +In the manufacture of brushes for the cleaning of cotton-yarn the +Kanjars enjoy almost a complete monopoly. In these brushes a stiff +mass of horsehair is attached to a wooden handle by sinews and strips +of hide; and the workmanship is remarkably neat and durable. [329] +Another complete or almost complete monopoly enjoyed by Kanjars +is the collection and sale of sweet-scented roots of the khas-khas +grass, which are afterward made up by the Chhaparbands and others +into door-screens, and through being continually watered cool the +hot air which passes through them. The roots of this wild grass, +which grows in most abundance on the outskirts of forests or near +the banks of rivers, are dug out of the earth by an instrument +called khunti. This has a handle three feet long, and a blade about +a foot long resembling that of a knife. The same implement serves as +a dagger or short spear for killing wolves or jackals, as a tool for +carving a secret entrance through the clay wall of a villager's hut in +which a burglary is meditated, as a spade or hoe for digging snakes, +field-rats, and lizards out of their holes, and edible roots out of +the earth, and as a hatchet for chopping wood." + + + + + + +Kapewar + + +Kapewar, [330] Munurwar.--A great cultivating caste of the Telugu +country, where they are known as Kapu or Reddi, and correspond to +the Kurmi in Hindustan and the Kunbi in the Maratha Districts. In the +Central Provinces about 18,000 persons of the caste were enumerated in +the Chanda District and Berar in 1911. The term Kapu means a watchman, +and Reddi is considered to be a corruption of Rathor or Rashtrakuta, +meaning a king, or more properly the headman of a village. Kapewar +is simply the plural form of Kapu, and Munurwar, in reality the name +of a subcaste of Kapewars, is used as a synonym for the main caste +in Chanda. They are divided into various occupational subcastes, +as the Upparwars or earth-diggers, from uppar, earth; the Gone, who +make gonas or hemp gunny-bags; the Elmas, who are household servants; +the Gollewars, who sell milk; and the Gamadis or masons. The Kunte or +lame Kapewars, the lowest group, say that their ancestor was born lame; +they are also called Bhiksha Kunte or lame beggars and serve as the +bards of the caste besides begging from them. They are considered to +be of illegitimate origin. No detailed account of the caste need be +given here, but one or two interesting customs reported from Chanda +may be noted. Girls must be married before they are ten years old, +and in default of this the parents are temporarily put out of caste +and have to pay a penalty for readmission. But if they take the girl +to some sacred place on the Godavari river and marry her there the +penalty is avoided. Contrary to the usual custom the bride goes to the +bridegroom's house to be married. On the fourth night of the marriage +ceremony the bridegroom takes with him all the parts of a plough as +if he was going out to the field, and walks up the marriage-shed +to the further end followed by the bride, who carries on her head +some cooked food tied up in a cloth. The skirts of the couple are +knotted together. On reaching the end of the shed the bridegroom +makes five drills in the ground with a bullock-goad and sows cotton +and juari seeds mixed together. Then the cooked food is eaten by all +who are present, the bridal couple commencing first, and the seed +is irrigated by washing their hands over it. This performance is a +symbolical portrayal of the future life of the couple, which will be +spent in cultivation. In Chanda a number of Kapewars are stone-masons, +and are considered the most proficient workers at this trade in the +locality. Major Lucie Smith, the author of the Chanda Settlement Report +of 1869, thought that the ancestors of the caste had been originally +brought to Chanda to build the fine walls with ramparts and bastions +which stretch for a length of six or seven miles round the town. The +caste are sometimes known as Telugu Kunbis. Men may be distinguished +by the single dot which is always tattooed on the forehead during +their infancy. Men of the Gowari caste have a similar mark. + + + + + + +Karan + + +Karan, [331] Karnam, Mahanti.--The indigenous writer caste of +Orissa. In 1901 a total of 5000 Karans were enumerated in Sambalpur +and the Uriya States, but the bulk of these have since passed under +the jurisdiction of Bihar and Orissa, and only about 1000 remain +in the Central Provinces. The total numbers of the caste in India +exceed a quarter of a million. The poet Kalidas in his Raghuvansa +describes Karans as the offspring of a Vaishya father and a Sudra +mother. The caste fulfils the same functions in Orissa as the +Kayasths elsewhere, and it is said that their original ancestors +were brought from northern India by Yayati Kesari, king of Orissa +(A.D. 447-526), to supply the demand for writers and clerks. The +original of the word Karan is said to be the Hindi karani, kiran, +which Wilson derives from Sanskrit karan, 'a doer.' The word karani +was at one time applied by natives to the junior members of the +Civil Service--'Writers,' as they were designated. And the 'Writers' +Buildings' of Calcutta were known as karani kibarik. From this term +a corruption 'Cranny' came into use, and was applied in Bengal to a +clerk writing English, and thence to the East Indians or half-castes +from whom English copyists were subsequently recruited. [332] The +derivation of Mahanti is obscure, unless it be from maha, great, +or from Mahant, the head of a monastery. The caste prefer the name of +Karan, because that of Mahanti is often appropriated by affluent Chasas +and others who wish to get a rise in rank. In fact a proverb says: +Jar nahin Jati, taku bolanti Mahanti, or 'He who has no caste calls +himself a Mahanti.' The Karans, like the Kayasths, claim Chitragupta +as their first ancestor, but most of them repudiate any connection +with the Kayasths, though they are of the same calling. The Karans +of Sambalpur have two subcastes, the Jhadua or those of the jhadi +or jungle and the Utkali or Uriyas. The former are said to be the +earlier immigrants and are looked down on by the latter, who do not +intermarry with them. Their exogamous divisions or gotras are of the +type called eponymous, being named after well-known Rishis or saints +like those of the Brahmans. Instances of such names are Bharadwaj, +Parasar, Valmik and Vasishtha. Some of the names, however, are in +a manner totemistic, as Nagas, the cobra; Kounchhas, the tortoise; +Bachas, a calf, and so on. These animals are revered by the members +of the gotra named after them, but as they are of semi-divine nature, +the practice may be distinguished from true totemism. In some cases, +however, members of the Bharadwaj gotra venerate the blue-jay, and of +the Parasar gotra, a pigeon. Marriage is regulated according to the +table of prohibited degrees in vogue among the higher castes. Girls +are commonly married before they are ten years old, but no penalty +attaches to the postponement of the ceremony to a later age. The +binding portion of the marriage is Hastabandhan or the tying of the +hands of the couple together with kusha grass, [333] and when this +has been done the marriage cannot be annulled. The bride goes to +her husband's house for a few days and then returns home until she +attains maturity. Divorce and remarriage of widows are prohibited, +and an unfaithful wife is finally expelled from the caste. The Karans +worship the usual Hindu gods and call themselves Smarths. Some belong +to the local Parmarth and Kumbhipatia sects, the former of which +practises obscene rites. They burn their dead, excepting the bodies of +infants, and perform the shraddh ceremony. The caste have a high social +position in Sambalpur, and Brahmans will sometimes take food cooked +without water from them. They wear the sacred thread. They eat fish +and the flesh of clean animals but do not drink liquor. Bhandaris or +barbers will take katcha food from a Karan. They are generally engaged +in service as clerks, accountants, schoolmasters or patwaris. Their +usual titles are Patnaik or Bohidar. The Karans are considered to be +of extravagant habits, and one proverb about them is-- + + + Mahanti jati, udhar paile kinanti hathi, + + +or, 'The Mahanti if he can get a loan will at once buy an +elephant.' Their shrewdness in business transactions and tendency +to overreach the less intelligent cultivating castes have made them +unpopular like the Kayasths, and another proverb says-- + + + Patarkata, Tankarkata, Paniota, Gaudini mai + E chari jati ku vishwas nai, + + +or, 'Trust not the palm-leaf writer (Karan), the weaver, the +liquor-distiller nor the milk-seller.' + + + + + + +KASAI + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice of the caste. + 2. The cattle-slaughtering industry. + 3. Muhammadan rite of zibah or halal. + 4. Animism. + 5. Animal-gods. The domestic animals. + 6. Other animals. + 7. Animals worshipped in India. + 8. The sacrificial meal. + 9. Primitive basis of kinship. + 10. The bond of food. + 11. The blood-feud. + 12. Taking food together and hospitality. + 13. The Roman sacra. + 14. The Hindu caste-feasts. + 15. Sacrifice of the camel. + 16. The joint sacrifice. + 17. Animal sacrifices in Greece. + 18. The Passover. + 19. Sanctity of domestic animals. + 20. Sacrificial slaughter for food. + 21. Animal-fights. + 22. The sacrificial method of killing. + 23. Animal sacrifices in Indian ritual. + + + + +1. General notice of the caste. + +Kasai, Kassab.--The caste of Muhammadan butchers, of whom about +4000 persons were returned from the Central Provinces and Berar in +1911. During the last decade the numbers of the caste have very greatly +increased owing to the rise of the cattle-slaughtering industry. Two +kinds of Kasais may be distinguished, the Gai Kasai or cow-killers +and the Bakar Kasai or mutton butchers. The latter, however, are +usually Hindus and have been formed into a separate caste, being +known as Khatik. Like other Muhammadans who have adopted professions +of a not too reputable nature, the Kasais have become a caste, partly +because the ordinary Muhammadan declines to intermarry with them, and +partly no doubt in imitation of the Hindu social system. The Kasais +are one of the lowest of the Muhammadan castes, and will admit into +their community even low-caste Hindu converts. They celebrate their +weddings by the nikah form, but until recently many Hindu rites were +added to it. The Kazi is employed to conduct the marriage, but if +his services are not available a member of the caste may officiate +instead. Polygamy is permitted to the number of four wives. A man may +divorce his wife simply for disobedience, but if a woman wishes to +divorce her husband she must forego the Meher or dowry promised at the +time of the wedding. The Kasai women, perhaps owing to their meat diet, +are noticeably strong and well nourished, and there is a saying to the +effect that, 'The butcher's daughter will bear children when she is +ten years old.' The deities of the Kasais are a number of Muhammadan +saints, who are known as Aulia or Favourites of God. The caste bury +the dead, and on the third day they read the Kalma over some parched +grain and distribute this to the caste-fellows, who eat it in the name +of the deceased man, invoking a blessing upon him. On the ninth day +after the death they distribute food to Muhammadan Fakirs or beggars, +and on the twentieth and fortieth days two more feasts are given to +the caste and a third on the anniversary of the death. Owing to what +is considered the degrading nature of his occupation, the social +position of the Kasai is very low, and there is a saying-- + + + Na dekha ho bagh, to dekh belai; + Na dekha ho Thag, to dekh Kasai, + + +or, 'If you have not seen a tiger, look at a cat; and if you have not +seen a Thug, look at a butcher.' Many Hindus have a superstition that +leprosy is developed by the continual eating of beef. + + + + +2. The cattle-slaughtering industry. + +In recent years an extensive industry in the slaughter of cattle +has sprung up all over the Province. Worn-out animals are now +eagerly bought up and killed; their hides are dried and exported, +and the meat is cured and sent to Madras and Burma, a substantial +profit being obtained from its sale. The blood, horns and hoofs are +other products which yield a return. The religious scruples of the +Hindus have given way to the temptation of obtaining what is to them +a substantial sum for a valueless animal, and, with the exception +perhaps of Brahmans and Banias, all castes now dispose of their +useless cattle to the butchers. At first this was done by stealth, +and efforts were made to impose severe penalties on anybody guilty +of the crime of being accessory to the death of the sacred kine, +while it is said that the emissaries of the butchers were sent to the +markets disguised as Brahmans or religious mendicants, and pretended +that they wished to buy cattle in order to preserve their lives as +a meritorious act. But such attempts at restriction have generally +proved fruitless, and the trade is now openly practised and acquiesced +in by public opinion. In spite of many complaints of the shortage +of plough cattle caused by the large numbers of animals slaughtered, +the results of this traffic are probably almost wholly advantageous; +for the villages no longer contain a horde of worn-out and decrepit +animals to deprive the valuable plough and milch cattle of a share of +the too scanty pasturage. Kasais themselves are generally prosperous. + + + + +3. Muhammadan rite of zibah or halal. + +When killing an animal the butcher lays it on the ground with its +feet to the west and head stretched towards the north and then cuts +its throat saying: + + + In the name of God; + God is great. + + +This method of killing an animal is known as zibah. The Muhammadan +belief that an animal is not fit for food unless its throat has been +cut so that the blood flows on to the ground is thus explained in +Professor Robertson Smith's Religion of the Semites [334]: "In heathen +Canaan all the animals belonged to the god of the country; but it +was lawful to kill them if payment was made to the god by pouring +out their life or blood on the ground." The Arabs are of the same +Semitic stock, and this may be partly the underlying idea of their +rite of zibah. It seems doubtful, however, whether the explanation +suffices to explain its continuance for so long a period among +the Muhammadans who have long ceased to reverence any earth-deity, +and in a foreign country where the soil cannot be sacred to them; +and a short summary of Dr. Robertson Smith's luminous explanation +of the underlying principle of animal sacrifice in early times seems +requisite to its full understanding. + + + + +4. Animism. + +Primitive man did not recognise any difference of intelligence and +self-consciousness between himself and the lower animals and even +plants, but believed them all to be possessed of consciousness and +volition as he was. He knew of no natural laws of the constitution of +matter and the action of forces, and therefore thought that all natural +phenomena, the sun, moon and stars, the wind and rain, were similarly +appearances, manifestations or acts of volition of beings conscious +like himself. This is what is meant by animism. Among several races the +community was divided into totem-clans, and each clan held sacred some +animal or bird, which was considered as a kinsman. All the members +of the clan were kin to each other through the tie formed by their +eating their totem animal, which in the hunting stage was probably +their chief means of subsistence, and from which they consequently +thought that they derived their common life. [335] In process of time +the animals which were domesticated, such as the horse, the sheep, +the cow and the camel, acquired a special sanctity, and became, in +fact, the principal deities of the community, such as the calf-god +Apis, the cow-goddess Isis-Hathor, and the ram-god Amen in Egypt, +Hera, probably a cow-goddess, and Dionysus, who may be the deified +bull or goat (or a combination of them) in Greece, and so on. + + + + +5. Animal-gods. The domestic animals. + +It is easy to see how these domestic animals would overshadow all +others in importance when the tribe had arrived at the pastoral or +agricultural stage; thus in the former the camel, horse, goat or sheep, +and in the latter pre-eminently the bull and cow, as the animals which +afforded subsistence to the whole tribe, would become their greatest +gods. It must be presumed that men forgot that their ancestors had +tamed these animals, and looked on them as divine helpers who of +their own free will had come to give mankind their aid in gaining a +subsistence. Those who have observed the reverence paid to the cow +and bull in India will have no difficulty in realising this point +of view. Many other instances can be obtained. Thus in the Vedic +religion of the Aryans the Ashvins, from ashva, a horse, were the +divine horsemen of the dawn or of the sun. The principal sacrifice +was that of the horse, considered, perhaps, as the representative of +the sun or carrier of celestial fire. In a hymn the horse is said to +be sprung from the gods. In Greece Phaethon was the charioteer of +the horses of the sun. Mars, as the Roman god of war, may perhaps +have been the deified horse, as suggested later. The chieftains of +the Anglo-Saxon invaders of England, Hengist and Horsa, were held +to be descended from the god Odin, to whom horses were sacrificed; +Hengist means a stallion and Horsa a horse, the word having survived +in modern English. Other mythical kings in Bede's chronicle have names +derived from that of the horse (vicg.). [336] The camel does not seem +to have become an anthropomorphic god, but the Arabs venerated it and +refrained from killing it except as a sacrifice, when it was offered +to the Morning-Star and partaken of sacramentally by the worshippers +as will be seen subsequently. The ox as the tiller of the ground, +with the cow as milk-giver and mother of the ox, are especially +venerated by races in the early agricultural stage. Egyptian and Greek +instances have already been given. In modern Egypt, as in India, bulls +are let loose and held sacred. "Sometimes a peasant vows that he will +sacrifice, for the sake of a saint, a calf which he possesses, as soon +as it is full grown and fatted. It is let loose, by consent of all his +neighbours, to pasture where it will, even in fields of young wheat; +and at last, after it has been sacrificed, a public feast is made with +its meat. Many a large bull is thus given away." [337] Dionysus Zagreus +was a young bull devoured by the Titans, whom Zeus raised again to +a glorious life. [338] The Babylonians had a bull-god, Ninit. [339] +Brazen images of bulls were placed in Babylonian temples. The Parsis +hold the bull sacred, and a child is made to drink a bull's urine as +a rite of purification. After a funeral the mourners free themselves +from the impurity caused by contact with the dead in a similar +manner. [340] The monotheistic religion of Persia, Mitraism, which +was an outcome of the faith of Zoroaster, and being introduced by the +Emperors Commodus and Julian into the Roman world contended for some +time with Christianity, was apparently sun-worship, Mitra being the +sun-god of the ancient Aryans and Iranians; M. Reinach says: "Mitra +is born from a rock; he makes water flow from the rock by striking +it with an arrow, makes an alliance with the sun, and enters into a +struggle with a bull, whom he conquers and sacrifices. The sacrifice +of the bull appears to indicate that the worship of Mitra in its most +ancient form was that of a sacred bull, conjoined to or representing +the sun, which was sacrificed as a god, and its flesh and blood eaten +in a sacrificial meal. Mitra, the slayer of the bull, figures in a +double rôle as one finds in all the religions which have passed from +totemism to anthropomorphism." [341] In Scandinavia the god Odin and +his brothers were the grandsons of a divine cow, born from the melting +ice in the region of snow and darkness. [342] In Rome a white bull +was sacrificed to the Feriae Latinae, apparently the spirit of the +Latin holy days, and distributed among all the towns of Latium. [343] +Altars of the ancient Celts or Gauls have been found in France carved +with the image of a bull. [344] In Palestine there is the familiar +instance of the golden calf. In the open court of Solomon's temple +stood the brazen sea on twelve oxen, and figures of lions, oxen and +cherubim covered the portable tanks. [345] The veneration of the bull +survived into Christian England in the Middle Ages. "At St. Edmundsbury +a white bull, which enjoyed full ease and plenty in the fields, and +was never yoked to the plough nor employed in any service, was led +in procession in the chief streets of the town to the principal gate +of the monastery, attended by all the monks singing and a shouting +crowd. [346] "Such remedies as cowdung and cow's urine have been used +on the continent of Europe by peasant physicians down to our times"; +[347] and the belief in their efficacy must apparently have arisen from +the sanctity attaching to the animal. In India Siva rides upon the +bull Nandi, and when the Kunbis were too weak from famine to plough +the fields, he had Nandi castrated and harnessed to the plough, +thus teaching them to use oxen for ploughing; the image of Nandi +is always carved in stone in front of Siva, and there seems little +reason to doubt that in his beneficent aspect of Mahadeo the god was +originally the deified bull. Bulls were let loose in his honour and +allowed to graze where they would, and formerly a good Hindu would +not even sell a bull, though this rule has fallen into abeyance. The +sacred cow, Kamdhenu, was the giver of all wealth in Hindu mythology, +and Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is considered to have been the +deified cow. Hindus are purified from grave offences by drinking the +five products of the sacred cow, milk, curds, butter, dung and urine; +and the floors of Hindu houses are daily plastered with cowdung to +the same end. + + + + +6. Other animals. + +Of the exaltation of minor animals into anthropomorphic gods and +goddesses only a few instances need be given. As is shown by Sir +J. G. Frazer, Demeter and Proserpine probably both represent the +deified pig. [348] "The Greek drama has arisen from the celebrations +of Dionysus. In the beginning the people sacrificed a goat totem-god, +that is to say, Dionysus himself; they wept for his death and then +celebrated his resurrection with transports of joy." [349] And again +M. Reinach states: "There are more than mere vestiges of totemism +in ancient Greece. We may take first the attendant animals of the +gods, the eagle of Zeus, the owl of Athena, the fawn of Artemis, +the dolphin of Poseidon, the dove of Aphrodite and so on; the sacred +animal can develop into the companion of the god, but also into his +enemy or victim; thus Apollo Sauroctonos is, as the epithet shows, +a killer of lizards; but in the beginning it was the lizard itself +which was divine. We have seen that the boar before becoming the +slayer of Adonis had been Adonis himself." [350] + +In early Rome "The wolf was the animal most venerated. Its association +with Mars, as the sacrifice most pleasing to him, leaves no doubt +as to the primitive nature of the god. It was a wolf which acted as +guide to the Samnites in their search for a place to settle in, and +these Samnites called themselves Hirpi or Hirpini, that is to say, +wolves. Romulus and Remus, sons of the wolf Mars and the she-wolf +Silvia (the forest-dweller), are suckled by a she-wolf." [351] It seems +possible that Mars as the deified wolf was at first an agricultural +deity, the wolf being worshipped by the shepherd and farmer because he +was their principal enemy, as the sambhar stag and the wild buffalo +are similarly venerated by Indian cultivators. At a later period, +in becoming the god of war, he may have represented the deified horse +as well. Races of war-horses were held at his festivals on 14th March +and 27th February, and a great race on the Ides of October when the +winner was solemnly slain. [352] "In Egypt the baboon was regarded +as the emblem of Tahuti, the god of wisdom; the serious expression +and human ways of the large baboons are an obvious cause for their +being regarded as the wisest of animals. Tahuti is represented as a +baboon from the earliest dynasty down to late times; and four baboons +were sacred in his temple at Heliopolis." [353] "The hippopotamus was +the goddess Ta-urt, 'the great one,' the patroness of pregnancy, who +is never shown in any other form. Rarely this animal appears as the +emblem of the god Set. The jackal haunted the cemeteries on the edge +of the desert, and so came to be taken as the guardian of the dead +and identified with Anubis, the god of departing souls. The vulture +was the emblem of maternity as being supposed to care especially for +her young. Hence she is identified with Mut, the mother-goddess of +Thebes. The cobra serpent was sacred from the earliest times to the +present day. It was never identified with any of the great deities, +but three goddesses appear in serpent form." [354] + + + + +7. Animals worshipped in India. + +Finally, in India we have Hanuman, originally the deified ape, about +whose identity there can be no doubt as he still retains his monkey's +tail in all sculpture. Bhairon, the watchman of Mahadeo's temples, +rides on a black dog, and was perhaps originally the watch-dog, +or in his more terrible character of the devourer of human beings, +the wolf. Ganesh or Ganpati has the head of an elephant and rides on +a rat and appears to have derived his divine attributes from both +these animals, as will be explained elsewhere; [355] Kartikeya, +the god of war, rides on a peacock, and as the peacock is sacred, +he may originally have been that bird, perhaps because its plumes +were a favourite war emblem. Among his epithets are Sarabhu, born +in the thicket, Dwadasakara and Dwadasaksha, twelve-handed and +twelve-eyed. He was fostered by the maidens who make the Pleiades, +and his epithet of twelve-eyed may be taken from the eyes in the +peacock's feathers. [356] But, like the Greek gods, the Hindu gods +have now long become anthropomorphic, and only vestiges remain of +their animal associations. Enough has been said to show that most of +the pantheons are largely occupied by deified animals and birds. + + + + +8. The sacrificial meal. + +The original sacrifice was that in which the community of kinsmen +ate together the flesh of their divine or totem animal-god and drank +its blood. In early religion the tribal god was the ancestor and +relative of the tribe. He protected and fostered the tribe in its +public concerns, but took no special care of individuals; the only +offences of which he took cognisance were those against the tribe as +a whole, such as shedding a kinsman's blood. At periodical intervals +the tribe renewed their kinship with the god and each other by eating +his flesh together at a sacrificial meal by which they acquired his +divine attributes; and every tribesman was not only invited, but +bound, to participate. "According to antique ideas those who eat and +drink together are by this very act tied to one another by a bond of +friendship and mutual obligation. Hence when we find that in ancient +religions all the ordinary functions of worship are summed up in the +sacrificial meal, and that the ordinary intercourse between gods and +men has no other form, we are to remember that the act of eating and +drinking together is the solemn and stated expression of the fact that +all who share the meal are brethren, and that the duties of friendship +and brotherhood are implicitly acknowledged in their common act. [357] +The one thing directly expressed in the sacrificial meal is that +the god and his worshippers are commensals, but every other point in +their mutual relations is included in what this involves. Those who +sit at meat together are united for all social effects; those who do +not eat together are aliens to one another, without fellowship in +religion and without reciprocal social duties. The extent to which +this view prevailed among the ancient Semites, and still prevails +among the Arabs, may be brought out most clearly by reference to the +law of hospitality. Among the Arabs every stranger whom one meets +in the desert is a natural enemy, and has no protection against +violence except his own strong hand or the fear that his tribe will +avenge him if his blood be spilt. But if I have eaten the smallest +morsel of food with a man I have nothing further to fear from him; +'there is salt between us,' and he is bound not only to do me no harm, +but to help and defend me as if I were his brother. So far was this +principle carried by the old Arabs that Zaid-al-Khail, a famous +warrior in the days of Muhammad, refused to slay a vagabond who +carried off his camels, because the thief had surreptitiously drunk +from his father's milk-bowl before committing the theft." [358] It is +in this idea that the feeling of hospitality originally arose. Those +who ate together the sacred food consisting of the body of the god +were brothers, and bound to assist each other and do each other no +harm; and the obligation extended in a modified form to all food +partaken of together, more especially as with some races, as the +ancient Romans and the Hindus, all the regular household meals are +sacred; they may only be partaken of after purifying the body, and a +portion of the food at each meal is offered to the gods. "There was +a sworn alliance between the Lihyan and the Mostalic--they were wont +to eat and drink together. This phrase of an Arab narrator supplies +exactly what is wanted to define the significance of the sacrificial +meal. The god and his worshippers are wont to eat and drink together, +and by this token their fellowship is declared and sealed." [359] + + + + +9. Primitive basis of kinship. + +The primitive idea of kinship rested on this participation in the +sacrificial meal, and not on blood-relationship. "In ancient times the +fundamental obligations of kinship had nothing to do with degrees of +relationship, but rested with absolute and identical force on every +member of the clan. To know that a man's life was sacred to me and +that every blood-feud that touched him involved me also, it was not +necessary for me to count cousinship with him by reckoning up to our +common ancestor; it was enough that we belonged to the same clan and +bore the same clan-name. What was my clan was determined by customary +law, which was not the same in all stages of society; in the earliest +Semitic communities a man was of his mother's clan, in later times he +belonged to the clan of his father. But the essential idea of kinship +was independent of the particular form of the law. A kin was a group of +persons whose lives were so bound up together, in what must be called +a physical unity, that they could be treated as parts of one common +life. The members of one kindred looked on themselves as one living +whole, a single animated mass of blood, flesh, and bones, of which +no member could be touched without all the members suffering. This +point of view is expressed in the Semitic tongues in many familiar +forms of speech. In case of homicide Arabian tribesmen do not say, +'The blood of M or N has been spilt,' naming the man; they say, +'Our blood has been spilt.' In Hebrew the phrase by which one claims +kinship is, 'I am your bone and your flesh.' Both in Hebrew and in +Arabic 'flesh' is synonymous with 'clan' or kindred group." [360] +Similarly in India a Hindu speaks of any member of his subcaste or +clan as his bhai or brother. + +"Indeed, in a religion based on kinship, where the god and his +worshippers are of one stock, the principle of sanctity and that +of kinship are identical. The sanctity of a kinsman's life and the +sanctity of the godhead are not two things but one; for ultimately the +only thing which is sacred is the common tribal life or the common +blood which is identified with the life. Whatever being partakes in +this life is holy, and its holiness may be described indifferently +as participation in the divine life and nature, or as participation +in the kindred blood." [361] + + + + +10. The bond of food. + +"At a later period the conception is found current that any food which +two men partake of together, so that the same substance enters into +their flesh and blood, is enough to establish some sacred unity of +life between them; but in ancient times this significance seems to be +always attached to participation in the flesh of a sacrosanct victim, +and the solemn mystery of its death is justified by the consideration +that only in this way can the sacred cement be procured which creates +or keeps alive a living bond of union between the worshippers and +their god. This cement is nothing less than the actual life of the +sacred and kindred animal, which is conceived as residing in its flesh, +but especially in its blood, and so, in the sacred meal, is actually +distributed among all the participants, each of whom incorporated a +particle of it with his own individual life." [362] + + + + +11. The blood-feud. + +It thus appears that the sacrifice of the divine animal which was the +god of the tribe or clan, and the eating of its flesh and drinking of +its blood together, was the only tangible bond or obligation on which +such law and morality as existed in primitive society was based. Those +who participated in this sacrifice were brothers and forbidden to shed +each other's blood, because in so doing they would have spilt the +blood of the god impiously and unlawfully; the only lawful occasion +on which it could be shed being by participation of all the clan or +kinsmen in the sacrificial meal. All other persons outside the clan +were strangers or enemies, and no rights or obligations existed in +connection with them; the only restraint on killing them being the +fear that their kinsmen would take blood-revenge, not solely on the +murderer, but on any member of his clan. A man's life was protected +only by this readiness of his clansmen to avenge him; if he slew a +fellow-kinsman, thus shedding the blood of the god which flowed in the +veins of every member, or committed any other great impiety against the +god, he was outlawed, and henceforth there was no protection for his +life except such as he could afford himself by his own strength. This +reflection puts the importance of the blood-feud in primitive society +in a clear light. It was at that time really a beneficent institution, +being the only protection for human life; and its survival among such +backward races as the Pathans and Corsicans, long after the State +has undertaken the protection and avenging of life and the blood-feud +has become almost wholly useless and evil, is more easily understood. + + + + +12. Taking food together and hospitality. + +The original idea of the sacrificial meal was that the kinsmen in +concert partook of the body of the god, thereby renewing their kinship +with him and with each other. By analogy, however, the tie thus formed +was extended to the whole practice of eating together. It has been +seen how a stranger who partook of food with an Arab became sacred +and as a kinsman to his host and all the latter's clan for such time +as any part of the food might remain in his system, a period which +was conventionally taken as about three days. "The Old Testament +records many cases where a covenant was sealed by the parties eating +and drinking together. In most of these the meal is sacrificial, +and the deity is taken in as a third party to the covenant. But in +Joshua i. 14 the Israelites enter into alliance with the Gibeonites by +taking of their victuals without consulting Jehovah. A formal league +confirmed by an oath follows, but by accepting the proffered food +the Israelites are already committed to the alliance." [363] From +the belief in the strength and sanctity of the tie formed by eating +together the obligation of hospitality appears to be derived. And +this is one of the few moral ideas which are more binding in primitive +than in civilised society. + + + + +13. The Roman sacra. + +"A good example of the clan sacrifice, in which a whole kinship +periodically joins, is afforded by the Roman sacra gentilicia. As +in primitive society no man can belong to more than one kindred, so +among the Romans no one could share in the sacra of two gentes--to +do so was to confound the ritual and contaminate the purity of the +gens. The sacra consisted in common anniversary sacrifices, in which +the clansmen honoured the gods of the clan, and after them the whole +kin, living and dead, were brought together in the service." [364] + + + + +14. The Hindu caste-feasts. + +The intense importance thus attached to eating in common on ceremonial +occasions has a very familiar ring to any one possessing some +acquaintance with the Indian caste-system. The resemblance of the +gotra or clan and the subcaste to the Greek phratry and phule and the +Roman gens and curia or tribe has been pointed out by M. Emile Senart +in Les Castes dans l'Inde. The origin of the subcaste or group, whose +members eat together and intermarry, cannot be discussed here. But it +seems probable that the real bond which unites it is the capacity of +its members to join in the ceremonial feasts at marriages, funerals, +and the readmission of members temporarily excluded, which are of a +type closely resembling and seemingly derived from the sacrificial +meal. Before a wedding the ancestors of the family are formally +invited, and when the wedding-cakes are made they are offered to the +ancestors and then partaken of by all relatives of the family as in +the Roman sacra. In this case grain would take the place of flesh +as the sacrificial food among a people who no longer eat the flesh +of animals. Thus Sir J. G. Frazer states: "At the close of the rice +harvest in the East Indian island of Buro each clan (fenna) meets +at a common sacramental meal, to which every member of the clan is +bound to contribute a little of the new rice. This meal is called +'eating the soul of the rice,' a name which clearly indicates the +sacramental character of the repast. Some of the rice is also set +apart and offered to the spirits." [365] Grain cooked with water is +sacred food among the Hindus. The bride and bridegroom worship Gauri, +perhaps a corn-goddess, and her son Ganesh, the god of prosperity and +full granaries. It has been suggested that yellow is the propitious +Hindu colour for weddings, because it is the colour of the corn. [366] +At the wedding feast all the guests sit knee to knee touching each +other as a sign of their brotherhood. Sometimes the bride eats with +the men in token of her inclusion in the brotherhood. In most castes +the feast cannot begin until all the guests have come, and every +member of the subcaste who is not under the ban of exclusion must be +invited. If any considerable number of the guests wilfully abstain +from attending it is an insult to the host and an implication that +his own position is doubtful. Other points of resemblance between +the caste feast and the sacrificial meal will be discussed elsewhere. + + + + +15. Sacrifice of the camel. + +The sacrifice of the camel in Arabia, about the period of the fourth +century, is thus described: "The camel chosen as the victim is bound +upon a rude altar of stones piled together, and when the leader of +the band has thrice led the worshippers round the altar in a solemn +procession accompanied with chants, he inflicts the first wound while +the last words of the hymn are still upon the lips of the congregation, +and in all haste drinks of the blood that gushes forth. Forthwith +the whole company fall on the victim with their swords, hacking off +pieces of the quivering flesh and devouring them raw, with such wild +haste that in the short interval between the rise of the day-star, +which marked the hour for the service to begin, and the disappearance +of its rays before the rising sun, the entire camel, body and bones, +skin, blood and entrails, is wholly devoured." [367] + +In this case the camel was offered as a sacrifice to Venus or the +Morning Star, and it had to be devoured while the star was visible. But +it is clear that the camel itself had been originally revered, +because except for the sacrifice it was unlawful for the Arabs to +kill the camel otherwise than as a last resort to save themselves from +starvation. "The ordinary sustenance of the Saracens was derived from +pillage or from hunting and from the milk of their herds. Only when +these supplies failed they fell back on the flesh of their camels, one +of which was slain for each clan or for each group which habitually +pitched their tents together--always a fraction of a clan--and the +flesh was hastily devoured by the kinsmen in dog-like fashion, half +raw and merely softened over the fire." [368] In Bhopal it is stated +that a camel is still sacrificed annually in perpetuation of the +ancient rite. Hindus who keep camels revere them like other domestic +animals. When one of my tent-camels had broken its leg by a fall and +had to be killed, I asked the camelman, to whom the animal belonged, +to shoot it; but he positively refused, saying, 'How shall I kill +him who gives me my bread'; and a Muhammadan orderly finally shot it. + + + + +16. The joint sacrifice. + +The camel was devoured raw almost before the life had left the +body, so that its divine life and blood might be absorbed by the +worshippers. The obligation to devour the whole body perhaps rested +on the belief that its slaughter otherwise than as a sacrifice was +impious, and if any part of the body was left unconsumed the clan +would incur the guilt of murder. Afterwards, when more civilised +stomachs revolted against the practice of devouring the whole body, the +bones were buried or burnt, and it is suggested that our word bonfire +comes from bone-fire. [369] Primitive usage required the presence of +every clansman, so that each might participate in shedding the sacred +blood. Neither the blood of the god nor of any of the kinsmen might +be spilt by private violence, but only by consent of the kindred +and the kindred god. Similarly in shedding the blood of a member of +the kin all the others were required to share the responsibility, +and this was the ancient Hebrew form of execution where the culprit +was stoned by the whole congregation. [370] + + + + +17. Animal sacrifices in Greece. + +M. Salomon Reinach gives the following explanation of Greek myths +in connection with the sacrificial meal: "The primitive sacrifice of +the god, usually accompanied by the eating of the god in fellowship, +was preserved in their religious rites, and when its meaning had +been forgotten numerous legends were invented to account for it. In +order to understand their origin it is necessary to remember that the +primitive worshippers masqueraded as the god and took his name. As +the object of the totem sacrifice is to make the participants like +the god and confer his divinity on them, the faithful endeavoured to +increase the resemblance by taking the name of the god and covering +themselves with the skins of animals of his species. Thus the Athenian +damsels celebrating the worship of the bear Artemis dressed themselves +in bear-skins and called themselves bears; the Maenads who sacrificed +the doe Penthea were clad in doe-skins. Even in the later rites the +devotees of Bacchus called themselves Bacchantes. A whole series of +legends can be interpreted as semi-rationalistic explanations of the +sacrificial meal. Actaeon was really a great stag sacrificed by women +devotees who called themselves the great hind and the little hinds; +he became the rash hunter who surprised Artemis at her bath, and was +transformed into a stag and devoured by his own dogs. The dogs are +a euphemism; in the early legend they were the human devotees of the +sacred stag who tore him to pieces and devoured him with their bare +teeth. These feasts of raw flesh survived in the secret religious +cults of Greece long after uncooked meat had ceased to be consumed +in ordinary life. Orpheus (ophreus, the haughty), who appears in +art with the skin of a fox on his head, was originally a sacred +fox devoured by the women of the fox totem-clan; these women call +themselves Bassarides in the legend, and bassareus is one of the +old names of the fox. Zagreus is a son of Zeus and Persephone who +transformed himself into a bull to escape from the Titans, excited +against him by Hera; the Titans, worshippers of the divine bull, +killed and ate him; Zagreus was invoked in his worship as the 'good +bull,' and when Zagreus by the grace of Zeus was reborn as Dionysus, +the young god carried on his forehead the horns which bore witness +to his animal nature. Hippolytus in the fable is the son of Theseus +who repels the advances of Phaedra, his stepmother, and was killed by +his runaway horses because Theseus, deceived by Phaedra, invoked the +anger of a god upon him. But Hippolytus in Greek means 'One torn to +pieces by horses.' Hippolytus is himself a horse whom the worshippers +of the horse, calling themselves horses and disguised as such, tore to +pieces and devoured. Phaethon (The Shining One) is a son of Apollo, +who demands leave to drive the chariot of the sun, drives it badly, +nearly burns up the world, and finally falls and perishes in the +sea. This legend is the product of an old rite at Rhodes, the island +of the sun, where every year a white horse and a burning chariot were +thrown into the sea to help the sun, fatigued by his labours." [371] + + + + +18. The Passover. + +M. Reinach points out that the Passover of the Israelites was in +its origin a similar sacrifice. A lamb or kid, the first-fruit of +the flocks, was eaten entire without the bones being broken, the +blood smeared on the doorway being an offering to the god. The story +connecting this sacrifice with the death of the first-born in Egypt +was of later origin, devised to account for it when the real meaning +had been forgotten. [372] The name Rachel [373] means a ewe, and it +would appear that the children of Israel in the pastoral stage had the +sheep for their totem deity and supposed themselves to be descended +from it, as the Jats consider themselves to be descended from Siva, +probably in his form of Mahadeo, the deified bull. As held in Canaan, +the festival may have been a relic of the former migratory life of +the Israelites when they tended flocks and regarded the sheep, or +goat, as their most important domestic animal. It may have been in +memory of this wandering life that the festival was accompanied by +the eating of unleavened bread, and the sacrifice was consumed with +loins girded up and staffs in their hands, as if in readiness for +a journey. The Banjaras retain in their marriage and other customs +various reminiscences of their former migratory life, as shown in the +article on that caste. The Gadarias of the Central Provinces worship +a goddess called Dishai Devi, who is represented by a stone platform +just outside the sheep-pen. She has thus probably developed from the +deified sheep or goat, which itself was formerly worshipped. On the +eighth day of the fasts in Chait and Kunwar the Gadarias offer the +goddess a virgin she-goat. They wash the goat's feet in water and rub +turmeric on its feet and head. It is given rice to eat and brought +before the goddess, and water is poured over its body; when the goat +begins to shiver they think that the goddess has accepted the offering, +and cut its throat with a sickle or knife. Then the animal is roasted +whole and eaten in the veranda of the house, nothing being thrown +away but the bones. Only men may join in this sacrifice, and not women. + + + + +19. Sanctity of domestic animals. + +Thus it was a more or less general rule among several races that the +domestic animals were deified and held sacred, and were slain only at +a sacrifice. It followed that it was sinful to kill these animals on +any other occasion. It has already been seen that the Arabs forbore +to kill their worn-out camels for food except when driven to it by +hunger as a last resort. "That it was once a capital offence to kill +an ox, both in Attica and the Peloponnesus, is attested by Varro. So +far as Athens is concerned, this statement seems to be drawn from the +legend that was told in connection with the annual sacrifice at the +Diipolia, where the victim was a bull and its death was followed by a +solemn inquiry as to who was responsible for the act. In this trial +everyone who had anything to do with the slaughter was called as a +party; the maidens who drew water to sharpen the axe and knife threw +the blame on the sharpeners, they put it on the man who handed the +axe, he on the man who struck down the victim, and he again on the +one who cut its throat, who finally fixed the responsibility on the +knife, which was accordingly found guilty of murder and cast into +the sea." [374] "At Tenedos the priest who offered a bull-calf to +Dionysus anthroporraistes was attacked with stones and had to flee +for his life; and at Corinth, in the annual sacrifice of a goat +to Hera Acraea, care was taken to shift the responsibility of the +death off the shoulders of the community by employing hirelings as +ministers. Even they did no more than hide the knife in such a way +that the goat, scraping with its feet, procured its own death." [375] +"Agatharchides, describing the Troglodytes of East Africa, a primitive +pastoral people in the polyandrous state of society, tells us that +their whole sustenance was derived from their flocks and herds. When +pasture abounded, after the rainy season, they lived on milk mingled +with blood (drawn apparently, as in Arabia, from the living animal), +and in the dry season they had recourse to the flesh of aged or +weakly beasts. Further, 'they gave the name of parent to no human +being, but only to the ox and cow, the ram and ewe, from whom they +had their nourishment.' Among the Caffres the cattle kraal is sacred; +women may not enter it, and to defile it is a capital offence." [376] +Among the Egyptians also cows were never killed. [377] + + + + +20. Sacrificial slaughter for food. + +Gradually, however, as the reverence for animals declined and the +true level of their intelligence compared to that of man came to be +better appreciated, the sanctity attaching to their lives no doubt +grew weaker. Then it would become permissible to kill a domestic animal +privately and otherwise than by a joint sacrifice of the clan; but the +old custom of justifying the slaughter by offering it to the god would +still remain. "At this stage, [378] at least among the Hebrews, the +original sanctity of the life of domestic animals is still recognised +in a modified form, inasmuch as it is held unlawful to use their flesh +for food except in a sacrificial meal. But this rule is not strict +enough to prevent flesh from becoming a familiar luxury. Sacrifices +are multiplied on trivial occasions of religious gladness or social +festivity, and the rite of eating at the sanctuary loses the character +of an exceptional sacrament, and means no more than that men are +invited to feast and be merry at the table of their god, or that no +feast is complete in which the god has not his share." [379] This is +the stage reached by the Hebrews in the time of Samuel, as described +by Professor Robertson Smith, and it bears much resemblance to that of +the lower Hindu castes and the Gonds at the present time. They too, +when they can afford to kill a goat or a pig, cows being prohibited +in deference to Hindu susceptibility, take it to the shrine of some +village deity and offer it there prior to feasting on it with their +friends. At intervals of a year or more many of the lower castes +sacrifice a goat to Dulha Deo, the bridegroom-god, and Thakur Deo, +the corn-god, and eat the body as a sacrificial meal within the +house, burying the bones and other remnants beneath the floor of the +house. [380] Among the Kafirs of the Hindu Kush, when a man wishes to +become a Jast, apparently a revered elder or senator, he must give a +series of feasts to the whole community, so expensive that many men +utterly ruin themselves in becoming Jast. The initiatory proceedings +are sacrifices of bulls and male goats to Gish, the war-god, at the +village shrine. The animals are examined with jealous eyes by the +spectators, to see that they come up to the prescribed standard +of excellence. After the sacrifice the meat is divided among the +people, who carry it to their homes. These special sacrifices at +the shrine recur at intervals; but the great slaughterings are at +the feast-giver's own house, where he entertains sometimes the Jast +exclusively and sometimes the whole tribe, as already mentioned. [381] +Even in the latter case, however, after a big distribution at the +giver's house one or two goats are offered to the war-god at his +shrine; and while the animals are being killed at the house offerings +are made on a sacrificial fire, and as each goat is slain a handful +of its blood is taken and thrown on the fire. [382] The Kafirs would +therefore appear to be in the stage when it is still usual to kill +domestic animals as a sacrifice to the god, but no longer obligatory. + + + + +21. Animal fights. + +Finally animals are recognised for what they are, all sanctity +ceases to attach to them, and they are killed for food in an ordinary +manner. Possibly, however, such customs as roasting an ox whole, and +the sports of bull-baiting and bull-fighting, may be relics of the +ancient sacrifice. Formerly the buffaloes sacrificed at the shrine of +the goddess Rankini or Kali in Dalbhum zamindari of Chota Nagpur were +made to fight. "Two male buffaloes are driven into a small enclosure +and on a raised stage adjoining and overlooking it the Raja and his +suite take up their position. After some ceremonies the Raja and his +family priest discharge arrows at the buffaloes, others follow their +example, and the tormented and enraged beasts fall to and gore each +other whilst arrow after arrow is discharged. When the animals are +past doing very much mischief, the people rush in and hack at them +with battle-axes till they are dead." [383] + + + + +22. The sacrificial method of killing. + +Muhammadans however cannot eat the flesh of an animal unless its throat +is cut and the blood allowed to flow before it dies. At the time of +cutting the throat a sacred text or invocation must be repeated. It +has been seen that in former times the blood of the animal was offered +to the god and scattered on the altar or collected in a pit at its +foot. It may be suggested that the method of killing which still +survives was that formerly practised in offering the sacrifice, +and that the necessity of allowing the blood to flow is a relic of +the blood offering. When it no longer became necessary to sacrifice +every animal at a shrine the sacrificial method of slaughter and the +invocation to the god might be retained as removing the impiety of +the act. At present it is said that unless an animal's blood flows it +is a murda or corpse, and hence not suitable for food. But this idea +may have grown up to account for the custom when its original meaning +had been forgotten. The Gonds, when sacrificing a fowl, hold it over +the sacred post or stone, which represents the god, and let the blood +drop upon it. And when sacrificing a pig they first cut its tongue +and let the blood fall upon the symbol of the god. In Chhattisgarh, +when a Hindu is ill he makes a vow of the affected limb to the god; +then on recovering he goes to the temple, and cutting this limb, lets +the blood fall on to the symbol of the god as an offering. Similarly +the Sikhs are forbidden to eat flesh unless the animal has been killed +by jatka or cutting off the head with one stroke, and the same rule +is observed by some of the lower Hindu castes. In Hindu sacrifices +it is often customary that the head of the animal should be made over +to the officiating priest as his share, and so in killing the animal +he would naturally cut off its head. The above rule may therefore be +of the same character as the rite of halal among the Muhammadans, and +here also the sacrificial method of killing an animal may be retained +to legalise its slaughter after the sacrifice itself has fallen into +desuetude. In Berar some time ago the Mullah or Muhammadan priest +was a village servant and the Hindus paid him dues. In return he was +accustomed to kill the goats and sheep which they wished to sacrifice +at temples, or in their fields to propitiate the deities presiding over +them. He also killed animals for the Khatik or mutton-butcher and the +latter exposed them for sale. The Mullah was entitled to the heart of +the animal killed as his perquisite and a fee of two pice. Some of the +Marathas were unmindful of the ceremony, but in general they professed +not to eat flesh unless the sacred verse had been pronounced either by +the Mullah or some Muhammadan capable of rendering it halal or lawful +to be eaten. [384] Hence it would appear that the Hindus, unprovided +by their own religion with any sacrificial mode of legalising the +slaughter of animals, adopted the ritual of a foreign faith in order +to make animal sacrifices acceptable to their own deities. The belief +that it is sinful to kill a domestic animal except with some religious +sanction is thus clearly shown in full force. + + + + +23. Animal sacrifices in Indian ritual. + +Among high-caste Hindus also sacrifices, including the killing of +cows, were at one time legal. This is shown by several legends, +[385] and is also a historical fact. One of Asoka's royal edicts +prohibited at the capital the celebration of animal sacrifices +and merry-makings involving the use of meat, but in the provinces +apparently they continued to be lawful. [386] This indicates that prior +to the rise of Buddhism such sacrifices had been customary, and also +that when a feast was to be given, involving the consumption of meat, +the animal was offered as a sacrifice. It is noteworthy that Asoka's +rules do not forbid the slaughter of cows. [387] In ancient times +also the most important royal sacrifice was that of the horse. The +development of religious belief and practice in connection with the +killing of domestic animals has thus proceeded on exactly opposite +lines in India as compared with most of the world. Domestic animals +have become more instead of less sacred and several of them cannot +be killed at all. The reason usually given to account for this is +the belief in the transmigration of souls, leading to the conclusion +that the bodies of animals might be tenanted by human souls. Probably +also Buddhism left powerful traces of its influence on the Hindu +view of the sanctity of animal life even after it had ceased to be +the state religion. Perhaps the Brahmans desired to make their faith +more popular and took advantage of the favourite reverence of all +cultivators for the cow to exalt her into one of their most powerful +deities, and at the same time to extend the local cult of Krishna, +the divine cowherd, thus following exactly the contrary course to that +taken by Moses with the golden calf. Generally the growth of political +and national feeling has mainly operated to limit the influence of the +priesthood, and the spread of education and development of reasoned +criticism and discussion have softened the strictness of religious +observance and ritual. Both these factors have been almost entirely +wanting in Hindu society, and this perhaps explains the continued +sanctity attaching to the lives of domestic animals as well as the +unabated power of the caste system. + + + + + + +Kasar + + +1. Distribution and origin of the caste. + +Kasar, Kasera, Kansari, Bharewa. [388]--The professional caste of +makers and sellers of brass and copper vessels. In 1911 the Kasars +numbered 20,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, and were +distributed over all Districts, except in the Jubbulpore division, +where they are scarcely found outside Mandla. Their place in the other +Districts of this division is taken by the Tameras. In Mandla the +Kasars are represented by the inferior Bharewa group. The name of the +caste is derived from kansa, a term now applied to bell-metal. The +kindred caste of Tameras take their name from tamba, copper, but +both castes work in this metal indifferently, and in Saugor, Damoh +and Jubbulpore no distinction exists between the Kasars and Tameras, +the same caste being known by both names. A similar confusion exists +in northern India in the use of the corresponding terms Kasera +and Thathera. [389] In Wardha the Kasars are no longer artificers, +but only dealers, employing Panchals to make the vessels which they +retail in their shops. And the same is the case with the Maratha +and Deshkar subcastes in Nagpur. The Kasars are a respectable caste, +ranking next to the Sunars among the urban craftsmen. + +According to a legend given by Mr. Sadasheo Jairam they trace their +origin from Dharampal, the son of Sahasra Arjun or Arjun of the +Thousand Arms. Arjun was the greatgrandson of Ekshvaku, who was born +in the forests of Kalinga, from the union of a mare and a snake. On +this account the Kasars of the Maratha country say that they all +belong to the Ahihaya clan (Ahi, a snake; and Haya, a mare). Arjun +was killed by Parasurama during the slaughter of the Kshatriyas and +Dharampal's mother escaped with three other pregnant women. According +to another version all the four women were the wives of the king +of the Somvansi Rajputs who stole the sacred cow Kamdhenu. Their +four sons on growing up wished to avenge their father and prayed to +the Goddess Kali for weapons. But unfortunately in their prayer, +instead of saying ban, arrow, they said van, which means pot, and +hence brass pots were given to them instead of arrows. They set +out to sell the pots, but got involved in a quarrel with a Raja, +who killed three of them, but was defeated by the fourth, to whom +he afterwards gave his daughter and half his kingdom; and this hero +became the ancestor of the Kasars. In some localities the Kasars say +that Dharampal, the Rajput founder of their caste, was the ancestor +of the Haihaya Rajput kings of Ratanpur; and it is noticeable that +the Thatheras of the United Provinces state that their original home +was a place called Ratanpur, in the Deccan. [390] Both Ratanpur and +Mandla, which are very old towns, have important brass and bell-metal +industries, their bell-metal wares being especially well known on +account of the brilliant polish which is imparted to them. And the +story of the Kasars may well indicate, as suggested by Mr. Hira Lal, +that Ratanpur was a very early centre of the brass-working industry, +from which it has spread to other localities in this part of India. + + + + +2. Internal structure. + +The caste have a number of subdivisions, mainly of a territorial +nature. Among these are the Maratha Kasars; the Deshkar, who also +belong to the Maratha country; the Pardeshi or foreigners, the +Jhade or residents of the forest country of the Central Provinces, +and the Audhia or Ajudhiabasi who are immigrants from Oudh. Another +subdivision, the Bharewas, are of a distinctly lower status than the +body of the caste, and have non-Aryan customs, such as the eating of +pork. They make the heavy brass ornaments which the Gonds and other +tribes wear on their legs, and are probably an occupational offshoot +from one of these tribes. In Chanda some of the Bharewas serve as +grooms and are looked down upon by the others. They have totemistic +septs, named after animals and plants, some of which are Gond words; +and among them the bride goes to the bridegroom's house to be married, +which is a Gond custom. The Bharewas may more properly be considered as +a separate caste of lower status. As previously stated, the Maratha and +Deshkar subcastes of the Maratha country no longer make vessels, but +only keep them for sale. One subcaste, the Otaris, make vessels from +moulds, while the remainder cut and hammer into shape the imported +sheets of brass. Lastly comes a group comprising those members of +the caste who are of doubtful or illegitimate descent, and these are +known either as Takle ('Thrown out' in Marathi), Bidur, 'Bastard,' +or Laondi Bachcha, 'Issue of a kept wife.' In the Maratha country the +Kasars, as already seen, say that they all belong to one gotra, the +Ahihaya. They have, however, collections of families distinguished by +different surnames, and persons having the same surname are forbidden +to marry. In the northern Districts they have the usual collection +of exogamous septs, usually named after villages. + + + + +3. Social customs. + +The marriages of first cousins are generally forbidden, as well as +of members of the same sept. Divorce and the remarriage of widows +are permitted. Devi or Bhawani is the principal deity of the caste, +as of so many Hindus. At her festival of Mando Amawas or the day +of the new moon of Phagun (February), every Kasar must return to +the community of which he is a member and celebrate the feast with +them. And in default of this he will be expelled from caste until the +next Amawas of Phagun comes round. They close their shops and worship +the implements of their trade on this day and also on the Pola day. The +Kasars, as already stated, rank next to the Sunars among the artisan +castes, and the Audhia Sunars, who make ornaments of bell-metal, form +a connecting link between the two groups. The social status of the +Kasars varies in different localities. In some places Brahmans take +water from them but not in others. Some Kasars now invest boys with the +sacred thread at their weddings, and thereafter it is regularly worn. + + + + +4. Occupation. + +The caste make eating and drinking vessels, ornaments and ornamental +figures from brass, copper and bell-metal. Brass is the metal most in +favour for utensils, and it is usually imported in sheets from Bombay, +but in places it is manufactured from a mixture of three parts of +copper and two of zinc. This is considered the best brass, though +it is not so hard as the inferior kinds, in which the proportion of +zinc is increased. Ornaments of a grey colour, intended to resemble +silver, are made from a mixture of four parts of copper with five of +zinc. Bell-metal is an alloy of copper and tin, and in Chanda is made +of four parts of copper to one part tin or tinfoil, the tin being the +more expensive metal. Bells of fairly good size and excellent tone +are moulded from this amalgam, and plates or saucers in which anything +acid in the way of food is to be kept are also made of it, since acids +do not corrode this metal as they do brass and copper. But bell-metal +vessels are fragile and sometimes break when dropped. They cannot also +be heated in the fire to clean them, and therefore cannot be lent to +persons outside the family; while brass vessels may be lent to friends +of other castes, and on being received back pollution is removed by +heating them in the fire or placing hot ashes in them. Brahmans make +a small fire of grass for this purpose and pass the vessels through +the flame. Copper cooking-pots are commonly used by Muhammadans +but not by Hindus, as they have to be coated with tin; the Hindus +consider that tin is an inferior metal whose application to copper +degrades the latter. Pots made of brass with a copper rim are called +'Ganga Jamni' after the confluence of the dark water of the Jumna +with the muddy stream of the Ganges, whose union they are supposed +to symbolise. Small figures of the deities or idols are also made of +brass, but some Kasars will not attempt this work, because they are +afraid of the displeasure of the god in case the figure should not +be well or symmetrically shaped. + + + + + + +KASBI + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice. + 2. Girls dedicated to temples. + 3. Music and dancing. + 4. Education of courtesans. + 5. Caste customs. + 6. First pregnancy. + 7. Different classes of women. + 8. Dancing and singing. + + + + +1. General notice. + +Kasbi, [391] Tawaif, Devadasi.--The caste of dancing-girls and +prostitutes. The name Kasbi is derived from the Arabic kasab, +prostitution, and signifies rather a profession than a caste. In India +practically all female dancers and singers are prostitutes, the Hindus +being still in that stage of the development of intersexual relations +when it is considered impossible that a woman should perform before the +public and yet retain her modesty. It is not so long that this idea +has been abandoned by Western nations, and the fashion of employing +women actors is perhaps not more than two or three centuries old in +England. The gradual disappearance of the distinctive influence of +sex in the public and social conduct of women is presumably a sign of +advancing civilisation, and is greatest in the West, the old standards +retaining more and more vitality as we proceed Eastward. Among the +Anglo-Saxon races women are almost entirely emancipated from any +handicap due to their sex, and direct their lives with the same +freedom and independence as men. Among the Latin races many people +still object to girls walking out alone in towns, and in Italy the +number of women to be seen in the streets is so small that it must +be considered improper for a young and respectable woman to go about +alone. Here also survives the mariage de convenance or arrangement +of matches by the parents; the underlying reason for this custom, +which also partly accounts for the institution of infant-marriage, +appears to be that it is not considered safe to permit a young girl +to frequent the society of unmarried men with sufficient freedom to +be able to make her own choice. And, finally, on arrival in Egypt +and Turkey we find the seclusion of women still practised, and only +now beginning to weaken before the influence of Western ideas. But +again in the lowest scale of civilisation, among the Gonds and other +primitive tribes, women are found to enjoy great freedom of social +intercourse. This is partly no doubt because their lives are too hard +and rude to permit of any seclusion of women, but also partly because +they do not yet consider it an obligatory feature of the institution of +marriage that a girl should enter upon it in the condition of a virgin. + + + + +2. Girls dedicated to temples. + +In the Deccan girls dedicated to temples are called Devadasis or +'Hand-maidens of the gods.' They are thus described by Marco Polo: +"In this country," he says, "there are certain abbeys in which are +gods and goddesses, and here fathers and mothers often consecrate +their daughters to the service of the deity. When the priests desire +to feast their god they send for those damsels, who serve the god with +meats and other goods, and then sing and dance before him for about as +long as a great baron would be eating his dinner. Then they say that +the god has devoured the essence of the food, and fall to and eat it +themselves." [392] Mr. Francis writes of the Devadasis as follows:1 +"It is one of the many inconsistences of the Hindu religion that +though their profession is repeatedly and vehemently condemned by the +Shastras it has always received the countenance of the church. The rise +of the caste and its euphemistic name seem both of them to date from +the ninth and tenth centuries of our era, during which much activity +prevailed in southern India in the matter of building temples and +elaborating the services held in them. The dancing-girls' duties +then as now were to fan the idol with chamaras or Thibetan ox-tails, +to hold the sacred light called Kumbarti and to sing and dance before +the god when he was carried in procession. Inscriptions show that in +A.D. 1004 the great temple of the Chola king Rajaraja at Tanjore had +attached to it 400 women of the temple who lived in free quarters +in the surrounding streets, and were given a grant of land from the +endowment. Other temples had similar arrangements. At the beginning +of last century there were a hundred dancing-girls attached to the +temple at Conjeeveram, and at Madura, Conjeeveram and Tanjore there +are still numbers of them who receive allowances from the endowments +of the big temples at those places. In former days the profession was +countenanced not only by the church but by the state. Abdur Razak, +a Turkish ambassador to the court of Vijayanagar in the fifteenth +century, describes women of this class as living in state-controlled +institutions, the revenue of which went towards the upkeep of the +police." + +The dedication of girls to temples and religious prostitution was +by no means confined to India but is a common feature of ancient +civilisation. The subject has been mentioned by Dr. Westermarck in The +Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, and fully discussed by Sir +James Frazer in Attis, Adonis, Osiris. The best known and most peculiar +instance is that of the temple of Istar in Babylonia. "Herodotus says +that every woman born in that country was obliged once in her life to +go and sit down in the precinct of Aphrodite and there consort with a +stranger. A woman who had once taken her seat was not allowed to return +home till one of the strangers threw a silver coin into her lap and +took her with him beyond the holy ground. The silver coin could not +be refused because, since once thrown, it was sacred. The woman went +with the first man who threw her money, rejecting no one. When she +had gone with him and so satisfied the goddess, she returned home, +and from that time forth no gift, however great, would prevail with +her. In the Canaanitish cults there were women called kedeshoth, who +were consecrated to the deity with whose temple they were associated, +and who at the same time acted as prostitutes." [393] Other instances +are given from Africa, Egypt and ancient Greece. The principal +explanation of these practices was that the act of intercourse, +according to the principle of sympathetic magic, produced fertility, +usually of the crops, though in the Babylonian case, Dr. Westermarck +thinks, of the woman herself. Several instances have been recorded of +people who perform the sexual act as a preliminary or accompaniment +to sowing the crops, [394] and there seems little doubt that this +explanation is correct. A secondary idea of religious prostitution may +have been to afford to the god the same sexual pleasures as delighted +an earthly king. Thus the Skanda Purana relates that Kartikeya, the +Hindu god of war, was sent by his father to frustrate the sacrifice of +Daksha, and at the instigation of the latter was delayed on his way +by beautiful damsels, who entertained him with song and dance. Hence +it is the practice still for dancing-girls who serve in the pagodas +to be betrothed and married to him, after which they may prostitute +themselves but cannot marry a man. [395] Similarly the Murlis or +dancing-girls in Maratha temples are married to Khandoba, the Maratha +god of war. Sometimes the practice of prostitution might begin by the +priests of the temple as representatives of the god having intercourse +with the women. This is stated to have been the custom at the temple +of Jagannath in Orissa, where the officiating Brahmans had adulterous +connection with the women who danced and sang before the god. [396] + + + + +3. Music and dancing. + +Both music and dancing, like others of the arts, probably originated +as part of a religious or magical service or ritual, and hence would +come to be practised by the women attached to temples. And it would +soon be realised what potent attractions these arts possessed when +displayed by women, and in course of time they would be valued as +accomplishments in themselves, and either acquired independently by +other courtesans or divorced from a sole application to religious +ritual. In this manner music, singing and dancing may have grown to +be considered as the regular attractions of the courtesan and hence +immoral in themselves, and not suitable for display by respectable +women. The Emperor Shah Jahan is said to have delighted in the +performances of the Tawaif or Muhammadan singing and dancing girls, +who at that time lived in bands and occupied mansions as large as +palaces. [397] Aurangzeb ordered them all to be married or banished +from his dominions, but they did not submit without a protest; and +one morning as the Emperor was going to the mosque he saw a vast crowd +of mourners marching in file behind a bier, and filling the air with +screams and lamentations. He asked what it meant, and was told that +they were going to bury Music; their mother had been executed, and +they were weeping over her loss. 'Bury her deep,' the Emperor cried, +'she must never rise again.' + + + + +4. Education of courtesans. + +The possession of these attractions naturally gave the courtesan an +advantage over ordinary women who lacked them, and her society was +much sought after, as shown in the following description of a native +court: [398] "Nor is the courtesan excluded, she of the smart saying, +famed for the much-valued cleverness which is gained in 'the world,' +who when the learned fail is ever ready to cut the Gordian knot of +solemn question with the sharp blade of her repartee, for--The sight +of foreign lands; the possession of a Pandit for a friend; a courtesan; +access to the royal court; patient study of the Shastras; the roots of +cleverness are these five." Mr. Crooke also remarks on the tolerance +extended to this class of women: "The curious point about Indian +prostitutes is the tolerance with which they are received into even +respectable houses, and the absence of that strong social disfavour +in which this class is held in European countries. This feeling has +prevailed for a lengthened period. We read in the Buddhist histories of +Ambapata, the famous courtesan, and the price of her favours fixed at +two thousand masurans. The same feeling appears in the folk-tales and +early records of Indian courts." [399] It may be remarked, however, +that the social ostracism of such women has not always been the +rule in Europe, while as regards conjugal morality Indian society +would probably appear to great advantage beside that of Europe in the +Middle Ages. But when the courtesan is alone possessed of the feminine +accomplishments, and also sees much of society and can converse with +point and intelligence on public affairs, her company must necessarily +be more attractive than that of the women of the family, secluded and +uneducated, and able to talk about nothing but the petty details of +household management. Education so far as women were concerned was +to a large extent confined to courtesans, who were taught all the +feminine attainments on account of the large return to be obtained +in the practice of their profession. This is well brought out in the +following passage from a Hindu work in which the mother speaks: [400] +"Worthy Sir, this daughter of mine would make it appear that I am to +blame, but indeed I have done my duty, and have carefully prepared her +for that profession for which by birth she was intended. From earliest +childhood I have bestowed the greatest care upon her, doing everything +in my power to promote her health and beauty. As soon as she was old +enough I had her carefully instructed in the arts of dancing, acting, +playing on musical instruments, singing, painting, preparing perfumes +and flowers, in writing and conversation, and even to some extent in +grammar, logic and philosophy. She was taught to play various games +with skill and dexterity, how to dress well and show herself off to +the greatest advantage in public; yet after all the time, trouble and +money which I have spent upon her, just when I was beginning to reap +the fruit of my labours, the ungrateful girl has fallen in love with +a stranger, a young Brahman without property, and wishes to marry him +and give up her profession (of a prostitute), notwithstanding all my +entreaties and representations of the poverty and distress to which +all her family will be reduced if she persists in her purpose; and +because I oppose this marriage, she declares that she will renounce +the world and become a devotee." Similarly the education of another +dancing-girl is thus described: [401] "Gauhar Jan did her duty by +the child according to her lights. She engaged the best 'Gawayyas' +to teach her music, the best 'Kathaks' to teach her dancing, the +best 'Ustads' to teach her elocution and deportment, and the best of +Munshis to ground her in Urdu and Persian belles lettres; so that +when Imtiazan reached her fifteenth year her accomplishments were +noised abroad in the bazar." It is still said to be the custom for the +Hindus in large towns, as among the Greeks of the time of Pericles, +to frequent the society of courtesans for the charm of their witty +and pointed conversation. Betel-nut is provided at such receptions, +and at the time of departure each person is expected to deposit a +rupee in the tray. Of course it is in no way meant to assert that +the custom is at all generally prevalent among educated men, as this +would be quite untrue. + +The association of all feminine charms and intellectual attainments +with public women led to the belief that they were incompatible with +feminine modesty; and this was even extended to certain ornamental +articles of clothing such as shoes. The Abbé Dubois remarks: [402] +"The courtesans are the only women in India who enjoy the privilege +of learning to read, to dance and to sing. A well-bred respectable +woman would for this reason blush to acquire any one of these +accomplishments." Buchanan says: [403] "The higher classes of Hindu +women consider every approach to wearing shoes as quite indecent; so +that their use is confined to Muhammadans, camp trulls and Europeans, +and most of the Muhammadans have adopted the Hindu notion on this +subject; women of low rank wear sandals." And again: [404] "A woman who +appears clean in public on ordinary occasions may pretty confidently +be taken for a prostitute; such care of her person would indeed be +considered by her husband as totally incompatible with modesty." And +as regards accomplishments: [405] "It is considered very disgraceful +for a modest woman to sing or play on any musical instrument; the only +time when such a practice is permitted is among the Muhammadans at +the Muharram, when women are allowed to join in the praises of Fatima +and her son." And a current saying is: "A woman who sings in the house +as she goes about her work and one who is fond of music can never be +a Sati"; a term which is here used as an equivalent for a virtuous +woman. Buchanan wrote a hundred years ago, and things have no doubt +improved since his time, but this feeling appears to be principally +responsible for much of the prejudice against female education, +which has hitherto been so strong even among the literate classes +of Hindus; and is only now beginning to break down as the highly +cultivated young men of the present day have learned to appreciate +and demand a greater measure of intelligence from their wives. + + + + +5. Caste customs. + +Among the better class of Kasbis a certain caste feeling and +organisation exists. When a girl attains adolescence her mother makes +a bargain with some rich man to be her first consort. Oil and turmeric +are rubbed on her body for five days as in the case of a bride. A +feast is given to the caste and the girl is married to a dagger, +walking seven times round the sacred post with it. Her human consort +then marks her forehead with vermilion and covers her head with her +head-cloth seven times. In the evening she goes to live with him +for as long as he likes to maintain her, and afterwards takes up +the practice of her profession. In this case it is necessary that +the man should be an outsider and not a member of the Kasbi caste, +because the quasi-marriage is the formal commencement on the part of +the woman of her hereditary trade. As already seen, the feeling of +shame and degradation attaching to this profession in Europe appears +to be somewhat attenuated in India, and it is counterbalanced by +that acquiescence in and attachment to the caste-calling which is +the principal feature of Hindu society. And no doubt the life of +the dancing-girl has, at any rate during youth, its attractions +as compared with that of a respectable married woman. Tavernier +tells the story [406] of a Shah of Persia who, desiring to punish a +dancing-girl for having boxed the ears of one of her companions within +his hearing (it being clearly not the effect of the operation on the +patient which annoyed his majesty) made an order that she should be +married. And a more curious instance still is the following from +a recent review: [407] "The natives of India are by instinct and +custom the most conservative race in the world. When I was stationed +at Aurangabad--fifty years ago it is true, but that is but a week +in regard to this question--a case occurred within my own knowledge +which shows the strength of hereditary feeling. An elderly wealthy +native adopted two baby girls, whose mother and family had died +during a local famine. The children grew up with his own girls and +were in all respects satisfactory, and apparently quite happy until +they arrived at the usual age for marriage. They then asked to see +their papa by adoption, and said to him, 'We are very grateful to +you for your care of us, but we are now grown up. We are told our +mother was a Kasbi (prostitute), and we must insist on our rights, +go out into the world, and do as our mother did.'" + + + + +6. First pregnancy. + +In the fifth or seventh month of the first pregnancy of a Kasbi woman +108 fried wafers of flour and sugar, known as gujahs, are prepared, +and are eaten by her as well as distributed to friends and relatives +who are invited to the house. After this they in return prepare +similar wafers and send them to the pregnant woman. Some little time +before the birth the mother washes her head with gram flour, puts +on new clothes and jewels, and invites all her friends to the house, +feasting them with rice boiled in milk, cakes and sweetmeats. + + + + +7. Different classes of women. + +Though the better-class Kasbis appear to have a sort of caste union, +this is naturally quite indefinite, inasmuch as marriage, at present +the essential bond of caste-organisation, is absent. The sons of +Kasbis take up any profession that they choose; and many of them +marry and live respectably with their wives. Others become musicians +and assist at the performances of the dancing-girls, as the Bhadua +who beats the cymbals and sings in chorus and also acts as a pimp, +and the Sarangia, one who performs on the sarangi or fiddle. The +girls themselves are of different classes, as the Kasbi or Gayan who +are Hindus, the Tawaif who are Muhammadans, and the Bogam or Telugu +dancing-girls. Gond women are known as Deogarhni, and are supposed +to have come from Deogarh in Chhindwara, formerly the headquarters +of a Gond dynasty. The Sarangias or fiddlers are now a separate +caste. In the northern Districts the dancing-girls are usually women +of the Beria caste and are known as Berni. After the spring harvest +the village headman hires one or two of these girls, who dance and +do acrobatic feats by torchlight. They will continue all through the +night, stimulated by draughts of liquor, and it is said that one woman +will drink two or three bottles of the country spirit. The young men of +the village beat the drum to accompany her dancing, and take turns to +see how long they can go on doing so without breaking down. After the +performance each cultivator gives the woman one or two pice (farthings) +and the headman gives her a rupee. Such a celebration is known as Rai, +and is distinctive of Bundelkhand. + +In Bengal this class of women often become religious mendicants and +join the Vaishnava or Bairagi community, as stated by Sir H. Risley: +[408] "The mendicant members of the Vaishnava community are of evil +repute, their ranks being recruited by those who have no relatives, by +widows, by individuals too idle or depraved to lead a steady working +life, and by prostitutes. Vaishnavi, or Baishtabi according to the +vulgar pronunciation, has come to mean a courtesan. A few undoubtedly +join from sincere and worthy motives, but their numbers are too +small to produce any appreciable effect on the behaviour of their +comrades. The habits of these beggars are very unsettled. They wander +from village to village and from one akhara (monastery) to another, +fleecing the frugal and industrious peasantry on the plea of religion, +and singing songs in praise of Hari beneath the village tree or +shrine. Members of both sexes smoke Indian hemp (ganja), and although +living as brothers and sisters are notorious for licentiousness. There +is every reason for suspecting that infanticide is common, as children +are never seen. In the course of their wanderings they entice away +unmarried girls, widows, and even married women on the pretence of +visiting Sri Kshetra (Jagannath) Brindaban or Benares, for which +reason they are shunned by all respectable natives, who gladly give +charity to be rid of them." + +In large towns prostitutes belong to all castes. An old list obtained +by Rai Bahadur Hira Lal of registered prostitutes in Jubbulpore showed +the following numbers of different castes: Barai six, Dhimar four, +and Nai, Khangar, Kachhi, Gond, Teli, Brahman, Rajput and Bania three +each. Each woman usually has one or two girls in training if she +can obtain them, with a view to support herself by their earnings +in the same method of livelihood when her own attractions have +waned. Fatherless and orphan girls run a risk of falling into this +mode of life, partly because their marriages cannot conveniently be +arranged, and also from the absence of strict paternal supervision. For +it is to be feared that a girl who is allowed to run about at her will +in the bazar has little chance of retaining her chastity even up to +the period of her arrival at adolescence. This is no doubt one of the +principal considerations in favour of early marriage. The caste-people +often subscribe for the marriage of a girl who is left without support, +and it is said that in former times an unmarried orphan girl might +go and sit dharna, or starving herself, at the king's gate until he +arranged for her wedding. Formerly the practice of obtaining young +girls was carried on to a much greater extent than at present. Malcolm +remarks: [409] "Slavery in Malwa and the adjoining provinces is chiefly +limited to females; but there is perhaps no part of India where there +are so many slaves of this sex. The dancing-girls are all purchased, +when young, by the Nakins or heads of the different sets or companies, +who often lay out large sums in these speculations, obtaining advances +from the bankers on interest like other classes." But the attractions +of the profession and the numbers of those who engage in it have now +largely declined. + + + + +8. Dancing and singing. + +The better class of Kasbi women, when seen in public, are conspicuous +by their wealth of jewellery and their shoes of patent leather or +other good material. Women of other castes do not commonly wear shoes +in the streets. The Kasbis are always well and completely clothed, +and it has been noticed elsewhere that the Indian courtesan is more +modestly dressed than most women. No doubt in this matter she knows +her business. A well-to-do dancing-girl has a dress of coloured +muslin or gauze trimmed with tinsel lace, with a short waist, long +straight sleeves, and skirts which reach a little below the knee, a +shawl falling from the head over the shoulders and wrapped round the +body, and a pair of tight satin trousers, reaching to the ankles. The +feet are bare, and strings of small bells are tied round them. They +usually dance and sing to the accompaniment of the tabla, sarangi and +majira. The tabla or drum is made of two half-bowls--one brass or clay +for the bass, and the other of wood for the treble. They are covered +with goat-skin and played together. The sarangi is a fiddle. The majira +(cymbals) consist of two metallic cups slung together and used for +beating time. Before a dancing-girl begins her performance she often +invokes the aid of Saraswati, the goddess of music. She then pulls her +ear as a sign of remembrance of Tansen, India's greatest musician, +and a confession to his spirit of the imperfection of her own sense +of music. The movements of the feet are accompanied by a continual +opening and closing of henna-dyed hands; and at intervals the girl +kneels at the feet of one or other of the audience. On the festival +of Basant Panchmi or the commencement of spring these girls worship +their dancing-dress and musical instruments with offerings of rice, +flowers and a cocoanut. + + + + + + +Katia + + +1. General notice. + +Katia, Katwa, Katua.--An occupational caste of cotton-spinners and +village watchmen belonging to the Satpura Districts and the Nerbudda +valley. In 1911 they numbered 41,000 persons and were returned mainly +from the Hoshangabad, Seoni and Chhindwara Districts. The caste is +almost confined to the Central Provinces. The name is derived from +the Hindi katna, to spin thread, and the Katias are an occupational +group probably recruited from the Mahars and Koris. They have a +tradition, Mr. Crooke states, [410] that they were originally Bais +Rajputs, whose ancestors, having been imprisoned for resistance +to authority, were released on the promise that they would follow +a woman's occupation of spinning thread. In the Central Provinces +they are sometimes called Renhta Rajputs or Knights of the Spinning +Wheel. The tradition of Rajput descent need not of course be taken +seriously. The drudgery of spinning thread was naturally imposed on +any widow in the household, and hence the saying, 'It is always moving, +like a widow's spinning-wheel.' [411] + + + + +2. Subcastes and exogamous groups. + +The Katias have several subcastes, with names generally derived +from places in the Central Provinces, as Pathari from a village in +the Chhindwara District, Mandilwar from Mandla, Gadhewal from Garha, +near Jubbulpore, and so on. The Dulbuha group consist of those who were +formerly palanquin-bearers (from doli, a litter). They have also more +than fifty exogamous septs, with names of the usual low-caste type, +derived from places, animals or plants, or natural objects. Some of the +septs are subdivided. Thus the Nagotia sept, named after the cobra, is +split up into the Nagotia, Dirat [412] Nag, Bharowar [413] Nag, Kosam +Karia and Hazari [414] Nag groups. It is said that the different groups +do not intermarry; but it is probable that they do, as otherwise there +seems to be no object in the subdivision. The Kosam Karias worship a +cobra at their weddings, but not the others. The Singhotia sept, from +singh, a horn, is divided into the Bakaria (goat) and Ghagar-bharia +(one who fills an earthen vessel) subsepts. The Bakarias offer goats +to their gods; and the Ghagar-bharias on the Akti [415] festival, +just before the breaking of the rains, fill an earthen vessel and +worship it, and consider it sacred for that day. Next day it is +brought into ordinary use. The Dongaria sept, from dongar, a hill, +revere the chheola tree. [416] They choose any tree of this species +outside the village, and say that it is placed on a hill, and go and +worship it once a year. In this case it would appear that a hill was +first venerated as an animate being and the ancestor of the sept. When +hills were no longer so regarded, a chheola tree growing on a hill +was substituted; and now the tree only is revered, probably a good +deal for form's sake, and so far as the hill is concerned, the mere +pretence that it is growing on a hill is sufficient. + + + + +3. Marriage customs. + +A man must not take a wife from his own sept nor from that of his +mother or grandmother. Girls are commonly married between eight +and twelve years of age; and a customary payment of Rs. 9 is made +to the father of the bride, double this amount being given by a +widower. An unmarried girl seduced by a man of the caste is united +to him by the ceremony used for a widow, and a fine is imposed on +her parents; if she goes wrong with an outsider she is expelled from +the community. In the marriage ceremony the customary ritual of the +northern Districts is followed, [417] and the binding portion of it +consists in the bride and bridegroom walking seven times around the +bhanwar or sacred pole. While she does this it is essential that +the bride should wear a string of black beads round her neck and +brass anklets on her feet. After the ceremony the bride's mother and +other women dance before the company. Whether the bride be a child +or young woman she always returns home after a stay of a few days at +her husband's house, and at her subsequent final departure the Gauna +or going-away ceremony is performed. If the bridegroom dies after the +wedding and before the Gauna, his younger brother or cousin or anybody +else may come and take away the bride after performing this ceremony, +and she will be considered as fully married to him. She is known +as a Gonhyai wife, as distinguished from a Byahta or one married in +the ordinary manner, and a Karta or widow married a second time. But +the children of all three inherit equally. A widow may marry again, +and take any one she pleases for her second husband. Widow-marriages +must not be celebrated in the rainy months of Shrawan, Bhadon and +Kunwar. No music is allowed at them, and the husband must present +a fee of a rupee and a cocoanut to the malguzar (proprietor) of the +village and four annas to the kotwar or watchman. A bachelor who is +to marry a widow first goes through a formal ceremony with a cotton +plant. Divorce is permitted for mutual disagreement. The couple stand +before the caste committee and each takes a stick, breaks it in two +halves, and throws them apart, saying, "I have no further connection +with my husband (or wife), and I break my marriage with him (or her) +as I break this stick." + + + + +4. Funeral rites. + +The dead may be either buried or burnt, as convenient, and mourning +is always observed for three days. Before the corpse is removed +a new earthen pot filled with rice is placed on the bier. The +chief mourner raises it, and addressing the deceased informs him +that after a certain period he will be united to the sainted dead, +and until that day his spirit should abide happily in the pot and +not trouble his family. The mouth of the pot is then covered, and +after the funeral the mourners take it home with them. When the day +appointed for the final ceremony has come, a miniature platform is +made from sticks tied together, and garlands and offerings of cakes +are hung on to it. A small heap of rice is made on the platform, +and just above it a clove is suspended from a thread. Songs are sung, +and the principal relative opens the pot in which the spirit of the +deceased has been enclosed. The spirit is called upon to join the +sacred company of the dead, and the party continue to sing and to +adjure it with all their force. The thread from which the clove is +suspended begins to swing backwards and forwards over the rice; and +a pig and two or three chickens are crushed to death as offerings to +the soul of the deceased. Finally the clove touches the rice, and it +is believed that the spirit of the dead man has departed to join the +sainted dead. The Katias consider that after this he requires nothing +more from the living, and so they do not make the annual offerings +to the souls of the departed. + + + + +5. Social rules. + +The caste sometimes employ a Brahman for the marriage ceremony; +but generally his services are limited to fixing an auspicious +date, and the functions of a priest are undertaken by members +of the family. They invite a Brahman to give a name to a boy, +and call him by this name. They think that if they changed the +name they would not be able to get a wife for the child. They will +eat any kind of flesh, including pork and fowls, but they are not +considered to be impure. They are generally illiterate, and dirty +in appearance. Unmarried girls wear glass bangles on both hands, but +married women wear metal bracelets on the right hand and glass on the +left. Girls are twice tattooed: first in childhood, and a second time +after marriage. The proper avocations of the Katias were the spinning +of cotton thread and the weaving of the finer kinds of cloth; but +most of them have had to abandon their ancestral calling from want of +custom, and they are now either village watchmen or cultivators and +labourers. A few of them own villages. The Katias think themselves +rather knowing; but this opinion is not shared by their neighbours, +who say ironically of them, "A Katia is eight times as wise as an +ordinary man, and a Kayasth thirteen times. Any one who pretends to +be wiser than these must be an idiot." + + + + + + +KAWAR [418] + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Tribal legend. + 2. Tribal subdivisions. + 3. Exogamous groups. + 4. Betrothal and marriage. + 5. Other customs connected with marriage. + 6. Childbirth. + 7. Disposal of the dead. + 8. Laying spirits. + 9. Religion. + 10. Magic and witchcraft. + 11. Dress. + 12. Occupation and social rules. + + + + +1. Tribal legend. + +Kawar, Kanwar, Kaur (honorific title, Sirdar).--A primitive tribe +living in the hills of the Chhattisgarh Districts north of the +Mahanadi. The hill-country comprised in the northern zamindari estates +of Bilaspur and the adjoining Feudatory States of Jashpur, Udaipur, +Sarguja, Chang Bhakar and Korea is the home of the Kawars, and is +sometimes known after them as the Kamran. Eight of the Bilaspur +zamindars are of the Kawar tribe. The total numbers of the tribe +are nearly 200,000, practically all of whom belong to the Central +Provinces. In Bilaspur the name is always pronounced with a nasal +as Kanwar. The Kawars trace their origin from the Kauravas of the +Mahabharata, who were defeated by the Pandavas at the great battle of +Hastinapur. They say that only two pregnant women survived and fled to +the hills of Central India, where they took refuge in the houses of +a Rawat (grazier) and a Dhobi (washerman) respectively, and the boy +and girl children who were born to them became the ancestors of the +Kawar tribe. Consequently, the Kawars will take food from the hands +of Rawats, especially those of the Kauria subcaste, who are in all +probability descended from Kawars. And when a Kawar is put out of +caste for having maggots in a wound, a Dhobi is always employed to +readmit him to social intercourse. These facts show that the tribe +have some close ancestral connection with the Rawats and Dhobis, +though the legend of descent from the Kauravas is, of course, a myth +based on the similarity of the names. The tribe have lost their own +language, if they ever had one, and now speak a corrupt form of the +Chhattisgarhi dialect of Hindi. It is probable that they belong to +the Dravidian tribal family. + + + + +2. Tribal subdivisions. + +The Kawars have the following eight endogamous divisions: Tanwar, +Kamalbansi, Paikara, Dudh-Kawar, Rathia, Chanti, Cherwa and Rautia. The +Tanwar group, also known as Umrao, is that to which the zamindars +belong, and they now claim to be Tomara Rajputs, and wear the sacred +thread. They prohibit widow-remarriage, and do not eat fowls or drink +liquor; but they have not yet induced Brahmans to take water from +them or Rajputs to accept their daughters in marriage. The name +Tanwar is not improbably simply a corruption of Kawar, and they +are also altering their sept names to make them resemble those of +eponymous Brahmanical gotras. Thus Dhangur, the name of a sept, has +been altered to Dhananjaya, and Sarvaria to Sandilya. Telasi is the +name of a sept to which four zamindars belong, and is on this account +sometimes returned as their caste by other Kawars, who consider it as +a distinction. The zamindari families have now, however, changed the +name Telasi to Kairava. The Paikaras are the most numerous subtribe, +being three-fifths of the total. They derive their name from Paik, +a foot-soldier, and formerly followed this occupation, being employed +in the armies of the Haihaivansi Rajas of Ratanpur. They still worship +a two-edged sword, known as the Jhagra Khand, or 'Sword of Strife,' +on the day of Dasahra. The Kamalbansi, or 'Stock of the Lotus,' +may be so called as being the oldest subdivision; for the lotus is +sometimes considered the root of all things, on account of the belief +that Brahma, the creator of the world, was himself born from this +flower. In Bilaspur the Kamalbansis are considered to rank next after +the Tanwars or zamindars' group. Colonel Dalton states that the term +Dudh or 'Milk' Kawar has the signification of 'Cream of the Kawars,' +and he considered this subcaste to be the highest. The Rathias are a +territorial group, being immigrants from Rath, a wild tract of the +Raigarh State. The Rautias are probably the descendants of Kawar +fathers and mothers of the Rawat (herdsman) caste. The traditional +connection of the Kawars with a Rawat has already been mentioned, +and even now if a Kawar marries a Rawat girl she will be admitted +into the tribe, and the children will become full Kawars. Similarly, +the Rawats have a Kauria subcaste, who are also probably the offspring +of mixed marriages; and if a Kawar girl is seduced by a Kauria Rawat, +she is not expelled from the tribe, as she would be for a liaison +with any other man who was not a Kawar. This connection is no doubt +due to the fact that until recently the Kawars and Rawats, who are +themselves a very mixed caste, were accustomed to intermarry. At the +census persons returned as Rautia were included in the Kol tribe, which +has a subdivision of that name. But Mr. Hira Lal's inquiries establish +the fact that in Chhattisgarh they are undoubtedly Kawars. The Cherwas +are probably another hybrid group descended from connections formed by +Kawars with girls of the Chero tribe of Chota Nagpur. The Chanti, who +derive their name from the ant, are considered to be the lowest group, +as that insect is the most insignificant of living things. Of the above +subcastes the Tanwars are naturally the highest, while the Chanti, +Cherwa and Rautia, who keep pigs, are considered as the lowest. The +others occupy an intermediate position. None of the subcastes will eat +together, except at the houses of their zamindars, from whom they will +all take food. But the Kawars of the Chhuri estate no longer attend the +feasts of their zamindar, for the following curious reason. One of the +latter's village thekadars or farmers had got the hide taken off a dead +buffalo so as to keep it for his own use, instead of making the body +over to a Chamar (tanner). The caste-fellows saw no harm in this act, +but it offended the zamindar's more orthodox Hindu conscience. Soon +afterwards, at some marriage-feast of his family, when the Kawars +of his zamindari attended in accordance with the usual custom, he +remarked, 'Here come our Chamars,' or words to that effect. The Chhuri +Kawars were insulted, and the more so because the Pendra zamindar and +other outsiders were present. So they declined to take food any longer +from their zamindar. They continued to accept it, however, from the +other zamindars, until their master of Chhuri represented to them +that this would result in a slur being put upon his standing among +his fellows. So they have now given up taking food from any zamindar. + + + + +3. Exogamous groups. + +The tribe have a large number of exogamous septs, which are generally +totemistic or named after plants and animals. The names of 117 septs +have been recorded, and there are probably even more. The following +list gives a selection of the names: + + + Andil Born from an egg. + Bagh Tiger. + Bichhi Scorpion. + Bilwa Wild cat. + Bokra Goat. + Chandrama Moon. + Chanwar A whisk. + Chita Leopard. + Chuva A well. + Champa A sweet-scented flower. + Dhenki A pounding-lever. + Darpan A mirror. + Gobira A dung insect. + Hundar A wolf. + Janta Grinding-mill. + Kothi A store-house. + Khumari A leaf-umbrella. + Lodha A wild dog. + Mama Maternal uncle. + Mahadeo The deity. + Nunmutaria A packet of salt. + Sendur Vermilion. + Sua A parrot. + Telasi Oily. + Thath Murra Pressed in a sugarcane press. + + +Generally it may be said that every common animal or bird and even +articles of food or dress and household implements have given their +names to a sept. In the Paikara subcaste a figure of the plant or +animal after which the sept is named is made by each party at the time +of marriage. Thus a bridegroom of the Bagh or tiger sept prepares a +small image of a tiger with flour and bakes it in oil; this he shows +to the bride's family to represent, as it were, his pedigree, or prove +his legitimacy; while she on her part, assuming that she is, say, +of the Bilwa or cat sept, will bring a similar image of a cat with +her in proof of her origin. The Andil sept make a representation +of a hen sitting on eggs. They do not worship the totem animal +or plant, but when they learn of the death of one of the species, +they throw away an earthen cooking-pot as a sign of mourning. They +generally think themselves descended from the totem animal or plant, +but when the sept is called after some inanimate object, such as a +grinding-mill or pounding-lever, they repudiate the idea of descent +from it, and are at a loss to account for the origin of the name. Those +whose septs are named after plants or animals usually abstain from +injuring or cutting them, but where this rule would cause too much +inconvenience it is transgressed: thus the members of the Karsayal +or deer sept find it too hard for them to abjure the flesh of that +animal, nor can those of the Bokra sept abstain from eating goats. In +some cases new septs have been formed by a conjunction of the names +of two others, as Bagh-Daharia, Gauriya-Sonwani, and so on. These +may possibly be analogous to the use of double names in English, +a family of one sept when it has contracted a marriage with another +of better position adding the latter's name to its own as a slight +distinction. But it may also simply arise from the constant tendency +to increase the number of septs in order to remove difficulties from +the arrangement of matches. + + + + +4. Betrothal and marriage. + +Marriage within the same sept is prohibited and also between the +children of brothers and sisters. A man may not marry his wife's elder +sister but he can take her younger one in her lifetime. Marriage is +usually adult and, contrary to the Hindu rule, the proposal for a +match always comes from the boy's father, as a man would think it +undignified to try and find a husband for his daughter. The Kawar +says, 'Shall my daughter leap over the wall to get a husband.' In +consequence of this girls not infrequently remain unmarried until a +comparatively late age, especially in the zamindari families where +the provision of a husband of suitable rank may be difficult. Having +selected a bride for his son the boy's father sends some friends to +her village, and they address a friend of the girl's family, saying, +"So-and-so (giving his name and village) would like to have a cup +of pej (boiled rice-water) from you; what do you say?" The proposal +is communicated to the girl's family, and if they approve of it +they commence preparing the rice-water, which is partaken of by the +parties and their friends. If the bride's people do not begin cooking +the pej, it is understood that the proposal is rejected. The ceremony +of betrothal comes next, when the boy's party go to the girl's house +with a present of bangles, clothes, and fried cakes of rice and urad +carried by a Kaurai Rawat. They also take with them the bride-price, +known as Suk, which is made up of cash, husked or unhusked rice, +pulses and oil. It is a fixed amount, but differs for each subcaste, +and the average value is about Rs. 25. To this is added three or four +goats to be consumed at the wedding. If a widower marries a girl, +a larger bride-price is exacted. The wedding follows, and in many +respects conforms to the ordinary Hindu ritual, but Brahmans are not +employed. The bridegroom's party is accompanied by tomtom-players +on its way to the wedding, and as each village is approached plenty +of noise is made, so that the residents may come out and admire the +dresses, a great part of whose merit consists in their antiquity, +while the wearer delights in recounting to any who will listen the +history of his garb and of his distinguished ancestors who have worn +it. The marriage is performed by walking round the sacred pole, six +times on one day and once on the following day. After the marriage the +bride's parents wash the feet of the couple in milk, and then drink +it in atonement for the sin committed in bringing their daughter into +the world. The couple then return home to the bridegroom's house, +where all the ceremonies are repeated, as it is said that otherwise +his courtyard would remain unmarried. On the following day the couple +go and bathe in a tank, where each throws five pots full of water over +the other. And on their return the bridegroom shoots arrows at seven +straw images of deer over his wife's shoulder, and after each shot +she puts a little sugar in his mouth. This is a common ceremony among +the forest tribes, and symbolises the idea that the man will support +himself and his wife by hunting. On the fourth day the bride returns to +her father's house. She visits her husband for two or three months in +the following month of Asarh (June-July), but again goes home to play +what is known as 'The game of Gauri,' Gauri being the name of Siva's +consort. The young men and girls of the village assemble round her in +the evening, and the girls sing songs while the men play on drums. An +obscene representation of Gauri is made, and some of them pretend to +be possessed by the deity, while the men beat the girls with ropes +of grass. After she has enjoyed this amusement with her mates for +some three months, the bride finally goes to her husband's house. + + + + +5. Other customs connected with marriage. + +The wedding expenses come to about seventy rupees on the bridegroom's +part in an ordinary marriage, while the bride's family spend the +amount of the bride-price and a few rupees more. If the parties are +poor the ceremony can be curtailed so far as to provide food for only +five guests. It is permissible for two families to effect an exchange +of girls in lieu of payment of the bride-price, this practice being +known as Gunrawat. Or a prospective bridegroom may give his services +for three or four years instead of a price. The system of serving +for a wife is known as Gharjian, and is generally resorted to by +widows having daughters. A girl going wrong with a Kawar or with a +Kaurai Rawat before marriage may be pardoned with the exaction of a +feast from her parents. For a liaison with any other outsider she +is finally expelled, and the exception of the Kaurai Rawats shows +that they are recognised as in reality Kawars. Widow-remarriage is +permitted except in the Tanwar subcaste. New bangles and clothes +are given to the widow, and the pair then stand under the eaves of +the house; the bridegroom touches the woman's ear or puts a rolled +mango-leaf into it, and she becomes his wife. If a widower marries a +girl for his third wife it is considered unlucky for her. An earthen +image of a woman is therefore made, and he goes through the marriage +ceremony with it; he then throws the image to the ground so that it is +broken, when it is considered to be dead and its funeral ceremony is +performed. After this the widower may marry the girl, who becomes his +fourth wife. Such cases are naturally very rare. If a widow marries +her deceased husband's younger brother, which is considered the most +suitable match, the children by her first husband rank equally with +those of the second. If she marries outside the family her children +and property remain with her first husband's relatives. + +Dalton [419] records that the Kawars of Sarguja had adopted the +practice of sati: "I found that the Kawars of Sarguja encouraged +widows to become Satis and greatly venerated those who did so. Sati +shrines are not uncommon in the Tributary Mahals. Between Partabpur +and Jhilmili in Sarguja I encamped in a grove sacred to a Kauraini +Sati. Several generations have elapsed since the self-sacrifice +that led to her canonisation, but she is now the principal object +of worship in the village and neighbourhood, and I was informed that +every year a fowl was sacrificed to her, and every third year a black +goat. The Hindus with me were intensely amused at the idea of offering +fowls to a Sati!" Polygamy is permitted, but is not common. Members +of the Tanwar subtribe, when they have occasion to do so, will take +the daughters of Kawars of other groups for wives, though they will +not give their daughters to them. Such marriages are generally made +clandestinely, and it has become doubtful as to whether some families +are true Tanwars. The zamindars have therefore introduced a rule that +no family can be recognised as a Tanwar for purposes of marriage unless +it has a certificate to that effect signed by the zamindar. Some of +the zamindars charge considerable sums for these certificates, and all +cannot afford them; but in that case they are usually unable to get +husbands for their daughters, who remain unwed. Divorce is permitted +for serious disagreement or bad conduct on the part of the wife. + + + + +6. Childbirth. + +During childbirth the mother sits on the ground with her legs apart, +and her back against the wall or supported by another woman. The +umbilical cord is cut by the midwife: if the parents wish the boy +to become eloquent she buries it in the village Council-place; or if +they wish him to be a good trader, in the market; or if they desire +him to be pious, before some shrine; in the case of a girl the cord +is usually buried in a dung-heap, which is regarded as an emblem of +fertility. As is usual in Chhattisgarh, the mother receives no food +or water for three days after the birth of a child. On the fifth day +she is given regular food and on that day the house is purified. Five +months after birth the lips of the child are touched with rice and +milk and it is named. When twins are born a metal vessel is broken to +sever the connection between them, as it is believed that otherwise +they must die at the same time. If a boy is born after three girls +he is called titura, and a girl after three boys, tituri. There is +a saying that 'A titura child either fills the storehouse or empties +it'; that is, his parents either become rich or penniless. To avert +ill-luck in this case oil and salt are thrown away, and the mother +gives one of her bangles to the midwife. + + + + +7. Disposal of the dead. + +The dead are usually buried, though well-to-do families have +adopted cremation. The corpse is laid on its side in the grave, +with head to the north and face to the east. A little til, cotton, +urad and rice are thrown on the grave to serve as seed-grain for +the dead man's cultivation in the other world. A dish, a drinking +vessel and a cooking-pot are placed on the grave with the same idea, +but are afterwards taken away by the Dhobi (washerman). They observe +mourning for ten days for a man, nine days for a woman, and three days +for children under three years old. During the period of mourning +the chief mourner keeps a knife beside him, so that the iron may +ward off the attacks of evil spirits, to which he is believed to be +peculiarly exposed. The ordinary rules of abstinence and retirement +are observed during mourning. In the case of cremation the ceremonies +are very elaborate and generally resemble those of the Hindus. When +the corpse is half burnt, all the men present throw five pieces of +wood on to the pyre, and a number of pieces are carried in a winnowing +fan to the dead man's house, where they are touched by the women and +then brought back and thrown on to the fire. After the funeral the +mourners bathe and return home walking one behind the other in Indian +file. When they come to a cross-road, the foremost man picks up a +pebble with his left foot, and it is passed from hand to hand down +the line of men until the hindmost throws it away. This is supposed +to sever their connection with the spirit of the deceased and prevent +it from following them home. On the third day they return to the +cremation ground to collect the ashes and bones. A Brahman is called +who cooks a preparation of milk and rice at the head of the corpse, +boils urad pulse at its feet, and bakes eight wheaten chapatis at +the sides. This food is placed in leaf-cups at two corners of the +ground. The mourners sprinkle cow's urine and milk over the bones, +and picking them up with a palas (Butea frondosa) stick, wash them in +milk and deposit them in a new earthen pot until such time as they +can be carried to the Ganges. The bodies of men dying of smallpox +must never be burnt, because that would be equivalent to destroying +the goddess, incarnate in the body. The corpses of cholera patients +are buried in order to dispose of them at once, and are sometimes +exhumed subsequently within a period of six months and cremated. In +such a case the Kawars spread a layer of unhusked rice in the grave, +and address a prayer to the earth-goddess stating that the body has +been placed with her on deposit, and asking that she will give it +back intact when they call upon her for it. They believe that in such +cases the process of decay is arrested for six months. + + + + +8. Laying spirits. + +When a man has been killed by a tiger they have a ceremony called +'Breaking the string,' or the connection which they believe the +animal establishes with a family on having tasted its blood. Otherwise +they think that the tiger would gradually kill off all the remaining +members of the family of his victim, and when he had finished with +them would proceed to other families in the same village. This curious +belief is no doubt confirmed by the tiger's habit of frequenting the +locality of a village from which it has once obtained a victim, in +the natural expectation that others may be forthcoming from the same +source. In this ceremony the village Baiga or medicine-man is painted +with red ochre and soot to represent the tiger, and proceeds to the +place where the victim was carried off. Having picked up some of the +blood-stained earth in his mouth, he tries to run away to the jungle, +but the spectators hold him back until he spits out the earth. This +represents the tiger being forced to give up his victim. The Baiga +then ties a string round all the members of the dead man's family +standing together; he places some grain before a fowl saying, 'If +my charm has worked, eat of this'; and as soon as the fowl has eaten +some grain the Baiga states that his efforts have been successful and +the attraction of the man-eater has been broken; he then breaks the +string and all the party return to the village. A similar ceremony +is performed when a man has died of snake-bite. + + + + +9. Religion. + +The religion of the Kawars is entirely of an animistic character. They +have a vague idea of a supreme deity whom they call Bhagwan and +identify with the sun. They bow to him in reverence, but do no more +as he does not interfere with men's concerns. They also have a host +of local and tribal deities, of whom the principal is the Jhagra +Khand or two-edged sword, already mentioned. The tiger is deified as +Bagharra Deo and worshipped in every village for the protection of +cattle from wild animals. They are also in great fear of a mythical +snake with a red crest on its head, the mere sight of which is +believed to cause death. It lives in deep pools in the forest which +are known as Shesk Kund, and when it moves the grass along its track +takes fire. If a man crosses its track his colour turns to black +and he suffers excruciating pains which end in death, unless he is +relieved by the Baiga. In one village where the snake was said to +have recently appeared, the proprietor was so afraid of it that he +never went out to his field without first offering a chicken. They +have various local deities, of which the Mandwa Rani or goddess of +the Mandwa hill in Korba zamindari may be noticed as an example. She +is a mild-hearted maiden who puts people right when they have gone +astray in the forest, or provides them with food for the night and +guides them to the water-springs on her hill. Recently a wayfarer +had lost his path when she appeared and, guiding him into it, gave +him a basket of brinjals. [420] As the traveller proceeded he felt +his burden growing heavier and heavier on his head, and finally on +inspecting it found that the goddess had played a little joke on him +and the brinjals had turned into stones. The Kawars implicitly believe +this story. Rivers are tenanted by a set of goddesses called the Sat +Bahini or seven sisters. They delight in playing near waterfalls, +holding up the water and suddenly letting it drop. Trees are believed +to be harmless sentient beings, except when occasionally possessed by +evil spirits, such as the ghosts of man-eating tigers. Sometimes a +tree catches hold of a cow's tail as the animal passes by and winds +it up over a branch, and many cattle have lost their tails in this +way. Every tank in which the lotus grows is tenanted by Purainha, the +godling who tends this plant. The sword, the gun, the axe, the spear +have each a special deity, and, in fact, in the Bangawan, the tract +where the wilder Kawars dwell, it is believed that every article of +household furniture is the residence of a spirit, and that if any one +steals or injures it without the owner's leave, the spirit will bring +some misfortune on him in revenge. Theft is said to be unknown among +them, partly on this account and partly, perhaps, because no one has +much property worth stealing. Instances of deified human beings are +Kolin Sati, a Kol concubine of a zamindar of Pendra who died during +pregnancy, and Sarangarhni, a Ghasia woman who was believed to have +been the mistress of a Raja of Sarangarh and was murdered. Both are +now Kawar deities. Thakur Deo is the deity of agriculture, and is +worshipped by the whole village in concert at the commencement of the +rains. Rice is brought by each cultivator and offered to the god, +a little being sown at his shrine and the remainder taken home and +mixed with the seed-grain to give it fertility. Two bachelors carry +water round the village and sprinkle it on the brass plates of the +cultivators or the roofs of their houses in imitation of rain. + + + + +10. Magic and witchcraft. + +The belief in witchcraft is universal and every village has its +tonhi or witch, to whom epidemic diseases, sudden illnesses and other +calamities are ascribed. The witch is nearly always some unpopular +old woman, and several instances are known of the murder of these +unfortunate creatures, after their crimes had been proclaimed by +the Baiga or medicine-man. In the famine of 1900 an old woman from +another village came and joined one of the famine-kitchens. A few +days afterwards the village watchman got ill, and when the Baiga was +called in he said the old woman was a witch who had vowed the lives +of twenty children to her goddess, and had joined the kitchen to kill +them. The woman was threatened with a beating with castor-oil plants +if she did not leave the village, and as the kitchen officer refused +to supply her with food, she had to go. The Baiga takes action to +stop and keep off epidemics by the methods common in Chhattisgarh +villages. When a woman asks him to procure her offspring, the Baiga +sits dharna in front of Devi's shrine and fasts until the goddess, +wearied by his importunity, descends on him and causes him to prophesy +the birth of a child. They have the usual belief in imitative and +sympathetic magic. If a person is wounded by an axe he throws it +first into fire and then into cold water. By the first operation +he thinks to dry up the wound and prevent its festering, and by +the second to keep it cool. Thin and lean children are weighed in +a balance against moist cowdung with the idea that they will swell +out as the dung dries up. In order to make a bullock's hump grow, +a large grain-measure is placed over it. If cattle go astray an iron +implement is placed in a pitcher of water, and it is believed that +this will keep wild animals off the cattle, though the connection of +ideas is obscure. To cure intermittent fever a man walks through a +narrow passage between two houses. If the children in a family die, +the Baiga takes the parents outside the village and breaks the stem +of some plant in their presence. After this they never again touch +that particular plant, and it is believed that their children will +not die. Tuesday is considered the best day for weddings, Thursday +and Monday for beginning field-work and Saturday for worshipping the +gods. To have bats in one's granary is considered to be fortunate, and +there is a large harmless snake which, they say, produces fertility +when it makes its home in a field. If a crow caws on the house-top +they consider that the arrival of a guest is portended. A snake or +a cat crossing the road in front and a man sneezing are bad omens. + + + + +11. Dress. + +The dress of the Kawars presents no special features calling for +remark. Women wear pewter ornaments on the feet, and silver or pewter +rings on the neck. They decorate the ears with silver pendants, but as +a rule do not wear nose-rings. Women are tattooed on the breast with +a figure of Krishna, on the arms with that of a deer, and on the legs +with miscellaneous patterns. The operation is carried out immediately +after marriage in accordance with the usual custom in Chhattisgarh. + + + + +12. Occupation and social rules. + +The tribe consider military service to be their traditional occupation, +but the bulk of them are now cultivators and labourers. Many of them +are farmers of villages in the zamindaris. Rautias weave ropes and +make sleeping-cots, but the other Kawars consider such work to be +degrading. They have the ordinary Hindu rules of inheritance, but a son +claiming partition in his father's lifetime is entitled to two bullocks +and nothing more. When the property is divided on the death of the +father, the eldest son receives an allowance known as jithai over and +above his share, this being a common custom in the Chhattisgarh country +where the Kawars reside. The tribe do not admit outsiders with the +exception of Kaurai Rawat girls married to Kawars. They have a tribal +panchayat or committee, the head of which is known as Pardhan. Its +proceedings are generally very deliberate, and this has led to the +saying: "The Ganda's panchayat always ends in a quarrel; the Gond's +panchayat cares only for the feast; and the Kawar's panchayat takes +a year to make up its mind." But when the Kawars have decided, they +act with vigour. They require numerous goats as fines for the caste +feast, and these, with fried urad, form the regular provision. Liquor, +however, is only sparingly consumed. Temporary exclusion from caste +is imposed for the usual offences, which include going to jail, +getting the ears split, or getting maggots in a wound. The last +is the most serious offence, and when the culprit is readmitted to +social intercourse the Dhobi (washerman) is employed to eat with him +first from five different plates, thus taking upon himself any risk +of contagion from the impurity which may still remain. The Kawar +eats flesh, fowls and pork, but abjures beef, crocodiles, monkeys +and reptiles. From birds he selects the parrot, dove, pigeon, quail +and partridge as fit for food. He will not eat meat sold in market +because he considers it halali or killed in the Muhammadan fashion, +and therefore impure. He also refuses a particular species of fish +called rechha, which is black and fleshy and has been nicknamed +'The Teli's bullock.' The higher subtribes have now given up eating +pork and the Tanwars abstain from fowls also. The Kawars will take +food only from a Gond or a Kaurai Rawat, and Gonds will also take +food from them. In appearance and manners they greatly resemble the +Gonds, from whom they are hardly distinguished by the Hindus. Dalton +[421] described them as "A dark, coarse-featured, broad-nosed, +wide-mouthed and thick-lipped race, decidedly ugly, but taller and +better set up than most of the other tribes. I have also found them +a clean, well-to-do, industrious people, living in comfortable, +carefully-constructed and healthily-kept houses and well dressed." + +Of their method of dancing Ball [422] writes as follows: "In the +evening some of the villagers--Kaurs they were I believe--entertained +us with a dance, which was very different from anything seen among the +Santals or Kols. A number of men performed a kind of ladies' chain, +striking together as they passed one another's pronged sticks which +they carried in their hands. By foot, hand and voice the time given +by a tom-tom is most admirably kept." + + + + + + +KAYASTH + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice and legend of origin. + 2. The origin of the caste. + 3. The rise of the Kayasths under foreign rulers. + 4. The original profession of the Kayasths. + 5. The caste an offshoot from Brahmans. + 6. The success of the Kayasths and their present position. + 7. Subcastes. + 8. Exogamy. + 9. Marriage customs. + 10. Marriage songs. + 11. Social rules. + 12. Birth Customs. + 13. Religion. + 14. Social customs. + 15. Occupation. + + + + +1. General notice and legend of origin. + +Kayasth, [423] Kaith, Lala.--The caste of writers and village +accountants. The Kayasths numbered 34,000 persons in 1911 and were +found over the whole Province, but they are most numerous in the +Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts. In the Maratha +country their place is to some extent taken by the Prabhus, the Maratha +writer caste, and also by the Vidurs. No probable derivation of the +name Kayasth appears to have been suggested. The earliest reference +to Kayasths appears in an inscription in Malwa dated A.D. 738-739. The +inscription is of a Maurya king, and the term Kayasth is used there as +a proper noun to mean a writer. Another dated A.D. 987 is written by +a Kayasth named Kanchana. An inscription on the Delhi Siwalik pillar +dated A.D. 1164 is stated to have been written by a Kayasth named +Sispati, the son of Mahava, by the king's command. The inscription adds +that the Kayasth was of Gauda (Bengal) descent, and the term Kayasth +is here used in the sense of a member of the Kayasth caste and not +simply meaning a writer as in the Malwa inscription. [424] From the +above account it seems possible that the caste was of comparatively +late origin. According to their own legend the first progenitor of +the Kayasths was Chitragupta, who was created by Brahma from his own +body and given to Yama the king of the dead, to record the good and +evil actions of all beings, and produce the result when they arrived +in the kingdom of the dead. Chitragupta was called Kayastha, from +kaya stha, existing in or incorporate in the body, because he was +in the body of Brahma. Chitragupta was born of a dark complexion, +and having a pen and ink-pot in his hand. He married two wives, the +elder being the granddaughter of the sun, who bore him four sons, +while the younger was the daughter of a Brahman Rishi, and by her +he had eight sons. These sons were married to princesses of the +Naga or snake race; the Nagas are supposed to have been the early +nomad invaders from Central Asia, or Scythians. The twelve sons were +entrusted with the government of different parts of India and the +twelve subcastes of Kayasths are named after these localities. + + + + +2. The origin of the caste. + +There has been much discussion on the origin of the Kayasth caste, +which now occupies a high social position owing to the ability and +industry of its members and their attainment of good positions in +the public services. All indications, however, point to the fact +that the caste has obtained within a comparatively recent period +a great rise in social status, and formerly ranked much lower than +it does now. Dr. Bhattacharya states: [425] "The Kayasths of Bengal +are described in some of the Hindu sacred books as Kshatriyas, but +the majority of the Kayasth clans do not wear the sacred thread, and +admit their status as Sudra also by the observance of mourning for +thirty days. But whether Kshatriya or Sudra, they belong to the upper +layer of Hindu society, and though the higher classes of Brahmans +neither perform their religious ceremonies nor enlist them among +their disciples, yet the gifts of the Kayasths are usually accepted +by the great Pandits of the country without hesitation." There is no +doubt that a hundred years ago the Kayasths of Bengal and Bihar were +commonly looked upon as Sudras. Dr. Buchanan, an excellent observer, +states this several times. In Bihar he says that the Kayasths are the +chief caste who are looked upon by all as pure Sudras and do not reject +the appellation. [426] And again that "Pandits in Gorakhpur insist that +Kayasths are mere Sudras, but on account of their influence included +among gentry (Ashraf). All who have been long settled in the district +live pure and endeavour to elevate themselves; but this has failed +of success as kindred from other countries who still drink liquor +and eat meat come and sit on the same mat with them." [427] Again +he calls the Kayasths the highest Sudras next to Vaidyas. [428] And +"In Bihar the penmen (Kayasthas) are placed next to the Kshatris and +by the Brahmans are considered as illegitimate, to whom the rank of +Sudras has been given, and in general they do not presume to be angry +at this decision, which in Bengal would be highly offensive. [429] +Colebrooke remarks of the caste: "Karana, from a Vaishya by a woman +of the Sudra class, is an attendant on princes or secretary. The +appellation of Kayastha is in general considered as synonymous +with Karana; and accordingly the Karana tribe commonly assumes the +name of Kayastha; but the Kayasthas of Bengal have pretensions to be +considered as true Sudras, which the Jatimala seems to authorise, for +the origin of the Kayastha is there mentioned before the subject of +mixed castes is introduced, immediately after describing the Gopa as +a true Sudra." [430] Similarly Colonel Dalton says: "I believe that +in the present day the Kayasths arrogate to themselves the position +of first among commoners, or first of the Sudras, but their origin +is involved in some mystery. Intelligent Kayasths make no pretension +to be other than Sudras." [431] In his Census Report of the United +Provinces Mr. R. Burn discusses the subject as follows: [432] "On +the authority of these Puranic accounts, and in view of the fact +that the Kayasths observe certain of the Sanskars in the same method +as is prescribed for Kshatriyas, the Pandits of several places have +given formal opinions that the Kayasths are Kshatriyas. On the other +hand, there is not the slightest doubt that the Kayasths are commonly +regarded either as a mixed caste, with some relationship to two if not +three of the twice-born castes, or as Sudras. This is openly stated +in some of the reports, and not a single Hindu who was not a Kayasth +of the many I have personally asked about the matter would admit +privately that the Kayasths are twice-born, and the same opinion +was expressed by Muhammadans, who were in a position to gauge the +ordinary ideas held by Hindus, and are entirely free from prejudice +in the matter. One of the most highly respected orthodox Brahmans in +the Provinces wrote to me confirming this opinion, and at the same +time asked that his name might not be published in connection with +it. The matter has been very minutely examined in a paper sent up +by a member of the Benares committee who came to the conclusion that +while the Kayasths have been declared to be Kshatriyas in the Puranas, +by Pandits, and in several judgments of subordinate courts, and to be +Sudras by Manu and various commentators on him, by public opinion, +and in a judgment of the High Court of Calcutta, they are really of +Brahmanical origin. He holds that those who to-day follow literary +occupations are the descendants of Chitragupta by his Brahman and +Kshatriya wives, that the so-called Unaya Kayasths are descended from +Vaishya mothers, and the tailors and cobblers from Sudra mothers. It +is possible to trace to some extent points which have affected public +opinion on this question. The Kayasths themselves admit that in the +past their reputation as hard drinkers was not altogether unmerited, +but they deserve the highest credit for the improvements which have +been effected in this regard. There is also a widespread belief +that the existing general observance by Kayasths of the ceremonies +prescribed for the twice-born castes, especially in the matter of +wearing the sacred thread, is comparatively recent. It is almost +superfluous to add that notwithstanding the theoretical views held +as to their origin and position, Kayasths undoubtedly rank high in +the social scale. All European writers have borne testimony to their +excellence and success in many walks of life, and even before the +commencement of British power many Kayasths occupied high social +positions and enjoyed the confidence of their rulers." + + + + +3. The rise of the Kayasths under foreign rulers. + +It appears then a legitimate conclusion from the evidence that the +claim of the Kayasths to be Kshatriyas is comparatively recent, and +that a century ago they occupied a very much lower social position +than they do now. We do not find them playing any prominent part in +the early or mediæval Hindu kingdoms. There is considerable reason for +supposing that their rise to importance took place under the foreign +or non-Hindu governments in India. Thus a prominent Kayasth gentleman +says of his own caste: [433] "The people of this caste were the first +to learn Persian, the language of the Muhammadan invaders of India, +and to obtain the posts of accountants and revenue collectors under +Muhammadan kings. Their chief occupation is Government service, +and if one of the caste adopts any other profession he is degraded +in the estimation of his caste-fellows." Malcolm states: [434] "When +the Muhammadans invaded Hindustan and conquered its Rajput princes, +we may conclude that the Brahmans of that country who possessed +knowledge or distinction fled from their intolerance and violence; +but the conquerors found in the Kayastha or Kaith tribe more pliable +and better instruments for the conduct of the details of their new +Government. This tribe had few religious scruples, as they stand low in +the scale of Hindus. They were, according to their own records, which +there is no reason to question, qualified by their previous employment +in all affairs of state; and to render themselves completely useful +had only to add the language of their new masters to those with which +they were already acquainted. The Muhammadans carried these Hindus +into their southern conquests, and they spread over the countries +of Central India and the Deccan; and some families who are Kanungos +[435] of districts and patwaris of villages trace their settlement +in this country from the earliest Muhammadan conquest." Similarly +the Bombay Gazetteer states that under the arrangements made by the +Emperor Akbar, the work of collecting the revenues of the twenty-eight +Districts subordinate to Surat was entrusted to Kayasths. [436] +And the Mathur Kayasths of Gujarat came from Mathura in the train +of the Mughal viceroys as their clerks and interpreters. [437] Under +the Muhammadans and for some time after the introduction of English +rule, a knowledge of Persian was required in a Government clerk, and +in this language most of the Kayasths were proficient, and some were +excellent clerks. [438] Kayasths attained very high positions under +the Muhammadan kings of Bengal and were in charge of the revenue +department under the Nawabs of Murshidabad; while Rai Durlao Ram, +prime minister of Ali Verdi Khan, was a Kayasth. The governors of +Bihar in the period between the battle of Plassey and the removal of +the exchequer to Calcutta were also Kayasths. [439] The Bhatnagar +Kayasths, it is said, came to Bengal at the time of the Muhammadan +conquest. [440] Under the Muhammadan kings of Oudh, too, numerous +Kayasths occupied posts of high trust. [441] Similarly the Kayasths +entered the service of the Gond kings of the Central Provinces. It is +said that when the Gond ruler Bakht Buland of Deogarh in Chhindwara +went to Delhi, he brought a number of Kayasths back with him and +introduced them into the administration. One of these was appointed +Bakshi or paymaster to the army of Bakht Buland. His descendant is a +leading landholder in the Seoni District with an estate of eighty-four +villages. Another Kayasth landholder of Jubbulpore and Mandla occupied +some similar position in the service of the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla. + +Finally in the English administration the Kayasths at first monopolised +the ministerial service. In the United Provinces, Bengal and Bihar, +it is stated that the number of Kayasths may perhaps even now exceed +that of all other castes taken together. [442] And in Gujarat the +Kayasths have lost in recent years the monopoly they once enjoyed as +Government clerks. [443] The Mathura Kayasths of Gujarat are said to be +declining in prosperity on account of the present keen competition for +Government service, [444] of which it would thus appear they formerly +had as large a share as they desired. The Prabhus, the writer-caste +of western India corresponding to the Kayasths, were from the time of +the earliest European settlements much trusted by English merchants, +and when the British first became supreme in Gujarat they had almost +a monopoly of the Government service as English writers. To such +an extent was this the case that the word Prabhu or Purvu was the +general term for a clerk who could write English, whether he was +a Brahman, Sunar, Prabhu, Portuguese or of English descent. [445] +Similarly the word Cranny was a name applied to a clerk writing +English, and thence vulgarly applied in general to the East Indians +or half-caste class from among whom English copyists were afterwards +chiefly recruited. The original is the Hindi karani, kirani, which +Wilson derives from the Sanskrit karan, a doer. Karana is also the +name of the Orissa writer-caste, who are writers and accountants. It +is probable that the name is derived from this caste, that is the +Uriya Kayasths, who may have been chiefly employed as clerks before +any considerable Eurasian community had come into existence. Writers' +Buildings at Calcutta were recently still known to the natives as +Karani ki Barik, and this supports the derivation from the Karans or +Uriya Kayasths, the case thus being an exact parallel to that of the +Prabhus in Bombay. [446] + + + + +4. The original profession of the Kayasths. + +From the above argument it seems legitimate to deduce that the +Kayasths formerly occupied a lower position in Hindu society. The +Brahmans were no doubt jealous of them and, as Dr. Bhattacharya +states, would not let them learn Sanskrit. [447] But when India became +subject to foreign rulers the Kayasths readily entered their service, +learning the language of their new employers in order to increase +their efficiency. Thus they first learnt Persian and then English, +and both by Muhammadans and English were employed largely, if not +at first almost exclusively, as clerks in the public offices. It +must be remembered that there were at this time practically only two +other literate castes among Hindus, the Brahmans and the Banias. The +Brahmans naturally would be for long reluctant to lower their dignity +by taking service under foreign masters, whom they regarded as outcaste +and impure; while the Banias down to within the last twenty years +or so have never cared for education beyond the degree necessary +for managing their business. Thus the Kayasths had at first almost +a monopoly of public employment under foreign Governments. It has +been seen also that it is only within about the last century that +the status of the Kayasths has greatly risen, and it is a legitimate +deduction that the improvement dates from the period when they began +to earn distinction and importance under these governments. But they +were always a literate caste, and the conclusion is that in former +times they discharged duties to which literacy was essential in a +comparatively humble sphere. "The earliest reference to the Kayasths +as a distinct caste," Sir H. Risley states, "occurs in Yajnavalkya, +who describes them as writers and village accountants, very exacting +in their demands from the cultivators." The profession of patwari or +village accountant appears to have been that formerly appertaining to +the Kayasth caste, and it is one which they still largely follow. In +Bengal it is now stated that Kayasths of good position object to marry +their daughters in the families of those who have served as patwaris +or village accountants. Patwaris, one of them said to Sir H. Risley, +however rich they may be, are considered as socially lower than other +Kayasths, e.g. Kanungo, Akhauri, Pande or Bakshi. Thus it appears +that the old patwari Kayasths are looked down upon by those who have +improved their position in more important branches of Government +service. Kanungo, as explained, is a sort of head of the patwaris; +and Bakshi, a post already noticed as held by a Kayasth in the Central +Provinces, is the Muhammadan office of paymaster. + +Similarly Mr. Crooke states that while the higher members of the +caste stand well in general repute, the village Lala (or Kayasth), +who is very often an accountant, is in evil odour for his astuteness +and chicanery. In Central India, as already seen, they are Kanungos of +Districts and patwaris of villages; and here again Malcolm states that +these officials were the oldest settlers, and that the later comers, +who held more important posts, did not intermarry with them. [448] +In Gujarat the work of collecting the revenue in the Surat tract +was entrusted to Kayasths. Till 1868, in the English villages, and +up to the present time in the Baroda villages, the subdivisional +accountants were mostly Kayasths. [449] In the Central Provinces the +bulk of the patwaris in the northern Districts and a large proportion +in other Districts outside the Maratha country are Kayasths. If +the Kayasths were originally patwaris or village accountants, their +former low status is fully explained. The village accountant would be +a village servant, though an important one, and would be supported +like the other village artisans by contributions of grain from the +cultivators. This is the manner in which patwaris of the Central +Provinces were formerly paid. His status would technically be lower +than that of the cultivators, and he might be considered as a Sudra +or a mixed caste. + + + + +5. The caste an offshoot from Brahmans. + +As regards the origin of the Kayasths, the most probable hypothesis +would seem to be that they were an offshoot of Brahmans of irregular +descent. The reason for this is that the Kayasths must have learnt +reading and writing from some outside source, and the Brahmans were +the only class who could teach it them. The Brahmans were not disposed +to spread the benefits of education, which was the main source of +their power, with undue liberality, and when another literate class +was required for the performance of duties which they disdained to +discharge themselves, it would be natural that they should prefer +to educate people closely connected with them and having claims on +their support. In this connection the tradition recorded by Sir +H. Risley may be noted to the effect that the ancestors of the +Bengal Kayasths were five of the caste who came from Kanauj in +attendance on five Brahmans who had been summoned by the king of +Bengal to perform for him certain Vedic ceremonies. [450] It may be +noted also that the Vidurs, another caste admittedly of irregular +descent from Brahmans, occupy the position of patwaris and village +accountants in the Maratha districts. The names of their subcastes +indicate generally that the home of the Kayasths is the country +of Hindustan, the United Provinces, and part of Bengal. This is +also the place of origin of the northern Brahmans, as shown by the +names of their most important groups. The Rajputs and Banias on the +other hand belong mainly to Rajputana, Gujarat and Bundelkhand, and +in most of this area the Kayasths are immigrants. It has been seen +that they came to Malwa and Gujarat with the Muhammadans; the number +of Kayasths returned from Rajputana at the census was quite small, +and it is doubtful whether the Kayasths are so much as mentioned in +Tod's Rajasthan. The hypothesis therefore of their being derived +either from the Rajputs or Banias appears to be untenable. In the +Punjab also the Kayasths are found only in small numbers and are +immigrants. As stated by Sir H. Risley, both the physical type of +the Kayasths and their remarkable intellectual attainments indicate +that they possess Aryan blood; similarly Mr. Sherring remarks: "He +nevertheless exhibits a family likeness to the Brahman; you may not +know where to place him or how to designate him; but on looking at +him and conversing with him you feel quite sure that you are in the +presence of a Hindu of no mean order of intellect." [451] No doubt +there was formerly much mixture of blood in the caste; some time ago +the Kayasths were rather noted for keeping women of other castes, and +Sir H. Risley gives instances of outsiders being admitted into the +caste. Dr. Bhattacharya states [452] that, "There are many Kayasths +in eastern Bengal who are called Ghulams or slaves. Some of them +are still attached as domestic servants to the families of the local +Brahmans, Vaidyas and aristocratic Kayasths. Some of the Ghulams have +in recent times become rich landholders, and it is said that one of +them has got the title of Rai Bahadur from Government. The marriage +of a Ghulam generally takes place in his own class, but instances of +Ghulams marrying into aristocratic Kayasth families are at present +not very rare." + +Further, the Dakshina Rarhi Kayasths affect the greatest veneration +for the Brahmans and profess to believe in the legend that traces +their descent from the five menial servants who accompanied the +five Brahmans invited by king Adisur. The Uttara Rarhi Kayasths or +those of northern Burdwan, on the other hand, do not profess the same +veneration for Brahmans as the southerners, and deny the authenticity +of the legend. It was this class which held some of the highest offices +under the Muhammadan rulers of Bengal, and several leading zamindars +or landholders at present belong to it. [453] It was probably in +this capacity of village accountant that the Kayasth incurred the +traditional hostility of one or two of the lower castes which still +subsists in legend. [454] The influence which the patwari possesses +at present, even under the most vigorous and careful supervision +and with the liability to severe punishment for any abuse of his +position, is a sufficient indication of what his power must have +been when supervision and control were almost nominal. On this point +Sir Henry Maine remarks in his description of the village community: +"There is always a village accountant, an important personage among +an unlettered population; so important indeed, and so conspicuous +that, according to the reports current in India, the earliest English +functionaries engaged in settlements of land were occasionally led, +by their assumption that there must be a single proprietor somewhere, +to mistake the accountant for the owner of the village, and to record +him as such in the official register. [455] In Bihar Sir H. Risley +shows that Kayasths have obtained proprietary right in a large area. + + + + +6. The success of the Kayasths and their present position. + +It may be hoped that the leading members of the Kayasth caste will +not take offence, because in the discussion of the origin of their +caste, one of the most interesting problems of Indian ethnology, it +has been necessary to put forward a hypothesis other than that which +they hold themselves. It would be as unreasonable for a Kayasth to feel +aggrieved at the suggestion that centuries ago their ancestors were to +some extent the offspring of mixed unions as for an Englishman to be +insulted by the statement that the English are of mixed descent from +Saxons, Danes and Normans. If the Kayasths formerly had a comparatively +humble status in Hindu society, then it is the more creditable to the +whole community that they should have succeeded in raising themselves +by their native industry and ability without adventitious advantages +to the high position in which by general admission the caste now +stands. At present the Kayasths are certainly the highest caste +after Brahman, Rajput and Bania, and probably in Hindustan, Bengal +and the Central Provinces they may be accounted as practically equal +to Rajputs and Banias. Of the Bengal Kayasths Dr. Bhattacharya wrote: +[456] "They generally prove equal to any position in which they are +placed. They have been successful not only as clerks but in the very +highest executive and judicial offices that have yet been thrown open +to the natives of this country. The names of the Kayastha judges, +Dwarka Nath Mitra, Ramesh Chandra Mitra and Chandra Madhava Ghose +are well known and respected by all. In the executive services +the Kayasths have attained the same kind of success. One of them, +Mr. R. C. Dutt, is now the Commissioner of one of the most important +divisions of Bengal. Another, named Kalika Das Datta, has been for +several years employed as Prime Minister of the Kuch Bihar State, +giving signal proofs of his ability as an administrator by the success +with which he has been managing the affairs of the principality in his +charge." In the Central Provinces, too, Kayasth gentlemen hold the most +important positions in the administrative, judicial and public works +departments, as well as being strongly represented in the Provincial +and subordinate executive services. And in many Districts Kayasths +form the backbone of the ministerial staff of the public offices, a +class whose patient laboriousness and devotion to duty, with only the +most remote prospects of advancement to encourage them to persevere, +deserve high commendation. + + + + +7. Subcastes. + +The northern India Kayasths are divided into the following twelve +subcastes, which are mainly of a territorial character: + + + (a) Srivastab. + (b) Saksena. + (c) Bhatnagar. + (d) Ambastha or Amisht. + (e) Ashthana or Aithana. + (f) Balmik or Valmiki. + (g) Mathur. + (h) Kulsreshtha. + (i) Suryadhwaja. + (k) Karan. + (l) Gaur. + (m) Nigum. + + +(a) The Srivastab subcaste take their name from the old town of +Sravasti, now Sahet-Mahet, in the north of the United Provinces. They +are by far the most numerous subcaste both there and here. In +these Provinces nearly all the Kayasths are Srivastabs except a few +Saksenas. They are divided into two sections, Khare and Dusre, which +correspond to the Bisa and Dasa groups of the Banias. The Khare are +those of pure descent, and the Dusre the offspring of remarried widows +or other irregular alliances. + +(b) The Saksena are named from the old town of Sankisa, in the +Farukhabad District. They also have the Khare and Dusre groups, and a +third section called Kharua, which is said to mean pure, and is perhaps +the most aristocratic. A number of Saksena Kayasths are resident in +Seoni District, where their ancestors were settled by Bakht Buland, +the Gond Raja of Deogarh in Chhindwara. These constituted hitherto +a separate endogamous group, marrying among themselves, but since +the opening of the railway negotiations have been initiated with the +Saksenas of northern India, with the result that intermarriage is to +be resumed between the two sections. + +(c) The Bhatnagar take their name from the old town of Bhatner, near +Bikaner. They are divided into the Vaishya or Kadim, of pure descent, +and the Gaur, who are apparently the offspring of intermarriage with +the Gaur subcaste. + +(d) Ambastha or Amisht. These are said to have settled on the Girnar +hill, and to take their name from their worship of the goddess Ambaji +or Amba Devi. Mr. Crooke suggests that they may be connected with the +old Ambastha caste who were noted for their skill in medicine. The +practice of surgery is the occupation of some Kayasths. [457] It +is also supposed that the names may come from the Ameth pargana of +Oudh. The Ambastha Kayasths are chiefly found in south Bihar, where +they are numerous and influential. [458] + +(e) Ashthana or Aithana. This is an Oudh subcaste. They have two +groups, the Purabi or eastern, who are found in Jaunpur and its +neighbourhood, and the Pachhauri or western, who live in or about +Lucknow. + +(f) Balmik or Valmiki. These are a subcaste of western India. Balmik +or Valmik was the traditional author of the Ramayana, but they do +not trace their descent from him. The name may have some territorial +meaning. The Valmiki are divided into three endogamous groups according +as they live in Bombay, Cutch or Surat. + +(g) The Mathur subcaste are named after Mathura or Muttra. They are +also split into the local groups Dihlawi of Delhi, Katchi of Cutch +and Lachauli of Jodhpur. + +(h) The Kulsreshtha or 'well-born' Kayasths belong chiefly to the +districts of Agra and Etah. They are divided into the Barakhhera, +or those of twelve villages, and the Chha Khera of six villages. + +(i) The Suryadhwaja subcaste belong to Ballia, Ghazi-pur and +Bijnor. Their origin is obscure. They profess excessive purity, +and call themselves Sakadwipi or Scythian Brahmans. + +(k) The Karan subcaste belong to Bihar, and have two local divisions, +the Gayawale from Gaya, and the Tirhutia from Tirhut. + +(l) The Gaur Kayasths, like the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs, apparently +take their name from Gaur or Lakhnauti, the old kingdom of Bengal. They +have the Khare and Dusre subdivisions, and also three local groups +named after Bengal, Delhi and Budaun. + +(m) The Nigum subcaste, whose name is apparently the same as that of +the Nikumbh Rajputs, are divided into two endogamous groups, the Kadim +or old, and the Unaya, or those coming from Unao. Sometimes the Unaya +are considered as a separate thirteenth subcaste of mixed descent. + + + + +8. Exogamy. + +Educated Kayasths now follow the standard rule of exogamy, which +prohibits marriage between persons within five degrees of affinity on +the female side and seven on the male. That is, persons having a common +grandparent on the female side cannot intermarry, while for those +related through males the prohibition extends a generation further +back. This is believed to be the meaning of the rule but it is not +quite clear. In Damoh the Srivastab Kayasths still retain exogamous +sections which are all named after places in the United Provinces, as +Hamirpur ki baink (section), Lucknowbar, Kashi ki Pande (a wise man +of Benares), Partabpuria, Cawnpore-bar, Sultanpuria and so on. They +say that the ancestors of these sections were families who came from +the above places in northern India, and settled in Damoh; here they +came to be known by the places from which they had immigrated, and so +founded new exogamous sections. A man cannot marry in his own section, +or that of his mother or grandmother. In the Central Provinces a man +may marry two sisters, but in northern India this is prohibited. + + + + +9. Marriage customs. + +Marriage may be infant or adult, and, as in many places husbands are +difficult to find, girls occasionally remain unmarried till nearly +twenty, and may also be mated to boys younger than themselves. In +northern India a substantial bridegroom-price is paid, which increases +for a well-educated boy, but this custom is not so well established +in the Central Provinces. However, in Damoh it is said that a sum of +Rs. 200 is paid to the bridegroom's family. The marriage ceremony is +performed according to the proper ritual for the highest or Brahma form +of marriage recognised by Manu with Vedic texts. When the bridegroom +arrives at the bride's house he is given sherbet to drink. It is +said that he then stands on a pestle, and the bride's mother throws +wheat-flour balls to the four points of the compass, and shows the +bridegroom a miniature plough, a grinding pestle, a churning-staff and +an arrow, and pulls his nose. The bridegroom's struggles to prevent +his mother-in-law pulling his nose are the cause of much merriment, +while the two parties afterwards have a fight for the footstool on +which he stands. [459] An image of a cow in flour is then brought, +and the bridegroom pierces its nostrils with a little stick of +gold. Kayasths do not pierce the nostrils of bullocks themselves, +but these rites perhaps recall their dependence on agriculture in +their capacity of village accountants. + +After the wedding the bridegroom's father takes various kinds of fruit, +as almonds, dates and raisins, and fills the bride's lap with them +four times, finally adding a cocoanut and a rupee. This is a ceremony +to induce fertility, and the cocoanut perhaps represents a child. + + + + +10. Marriage songs. + +The following are some specimens of songs sung at weddings. The first +is about Rama's departure from Ajodhia when he went to the forests: + + + Now Hari (Rama) has driven his chariot forth to the jungle. + His father and mother are weeping. + Kaushilya [460] stood up and said, 'Now, whom shall I call my + diamond and my ruby?' + Dasrath went to the tower of his palace to see his son; + As Rama's chariot set forth under the shade of the trees, he + wished that he might die. + Bharat ran after his brother with naked feet. + He said, 'Oh brother, you are going to the forest, to whom do + you give the kingdom of Oudh?' + Rama said, 'When fourteen years have passed away I shall come + back from the jungles. Till then I give the kingdom to you.' + + +The following is a love dialogue: + + + Make a beautiful garden for me to see my king. + In that garden what flowers shall I set? + Lemons, oranges, pomegranates, figs. + In that garden what music shall there be? + A tambourine, a fiddle, a guitar and a dancing girl. + In that garden what attendants shall there be? + A writer, a supervisor, a secretary for writing letters. [461] + + +The next is a love-song by a woman: + + + How has your countenance changed, my lord? + Why speak you not to your slave? + If I were a deer in the forest and you a famous warrior, would + you not shoot me with your gun? + If I were a fish in the water and you the son of a fisherman, + would you not catch me with your drag-net? + If I were a cuckoo in the garden and you the gardener's son, + would you not trap me with your liming-stick? + + +The last is a dialogue between Radha and Krishna. Radha with her +maidens was bathing in the river when Krishna stole all their clothes +and climbed up a tree with them. Girdhari is a name of Krishna: + + + R. You and I cannot be friends, Girdhari; I am wearing a + silk-embroidered cloth and you a black blanket. + + You are the son of old Nand, the shepherd, and I am a princess + of Mathura. + + You have taken my clothes and climbed up a kadamb tree. I am + naked in the river. + + K. I will not give you your clothes till you come out of the water. + + R. If I come out of the water the people will laugh and clap at me. + All my companions seeing your beauty say, 'You have vanquished us; + we are overcome.' + + + + +11. Social rules. + +Polygamy is permitted but is seldom resorted to, except for the sake +of offspring. Neither widow-marriage nor divorce are recognised, and +either a girl or married woman is expelled from the caste if detected +in a liaison. A man may keep a woman of another caste if he does not +eat from her hand nor permit her to eat in the chauk or purified place +where he and his family take their meals. The practice of keeping +women was formerly common but has now been largely suppressed. Women +of all castes were kept except Brahmans and Kayasths. Illegitimate +children were known as Dogle or Surait and called Kayasths, ranking +as an inferior group of the caste. And it is not unlikely that in the +past the descendants of such irregular unions have been admitted to +the Dusre or lower branch of the different subcastes. + + + + +12. Birth customs. + +During the seventh month of a woman's pregnancy a dinner is given to +the caste-fellows and songs are sung. After this occasion the woman +must not go outside her own village, nor can she go to draw water +from a well or to bathe in a tank. She can only go into the street +or to another house in her own village. + +On the sixth day after a birth a dinner is given to the caste and +songs are sung. The women bring small silver coins or rupees and place +them in the mother's lap. The occasion of the first appearance of the +signs of maturity in a girl is not observed at all if she is in her +father's house. But if she has gone to her father-in-law's house, +she is dressed in new clothes, her hair after being washed is tied +up, and she is seated in the chauk or purified space, while the women +come and sing songs. + + + + +13. Religion. + +The Kayasths venerate the ordinary Hindu deities. They worship +Chitragupta, their divine ancestor, at weddings and at the Holi +and Diwali festivals. Twice a year they venerate the pen and ink, +the implements of their profession, to which they owe their great +success. The patwaris in Hoshangabad formerly received small fees, +known as diwat puja, from the cultivators for worshipping the +ink-bottle on their behalf, presumably owing to the idea that, +if neglected, it might make a malicious mistake in the record of +their rights. + + + + +14. Social customs. + +The dead are burnt, and the proper offerings are made on the +anniversaries, according to the prescribed Hindu ritual. Kayasth +names usually end in Prasad, Singh, Baksh, Sewak, and Lala in the +Central Provinces. Lala, which is a term of endearment, is often +employed as a synonym for the caste. Dada or uncle is a respectful +term of address for Kayasths. Two names are usually given to a boy, +one for ceremonial and the other for ordinary use. + +The Kayasths will take food cooked with water from Brahmans, and that +cooked without water (pakki) from Rajputs and Banias. Some Hindustani +Brahmans, as well as Khatris and certain classes of Banias, will +take pakki food from Kayasths. Kayasths of different subcastes will +sometimes also take it from each other. They will give the huqqa +with the reed in to members of their own subcaste, and without the +reed to any Kayasth. The caste eat the flesh of goats, sheep, fish, +and birds. They were formerly somewhat notorious for drinking freely, +but a great reform has been effected in this respect by the community +itself through the agency of their caste conference, and many are +now total abstainers. + + + + +15. Occupation. + +The occupations of the Kayasths have been treated in discussing the +origin of the caste. They set the greatest store by their profession of +writing and say that the son of a Kayasth should be either literate +or dead. The following is the definition of a Lekhak or writer, +a term said to be used for the Kayasths in Puranic literature: + +"In all courts of justice he who is acquainted with the languages of +all countries and conversant with all the Shastras, who can arrange +his letters in writing in even and parallel lines, who is possessed +of presence of mind, who knows the art of how and what to speak in +order to carry out an object in view, who is well versed in all the +Shastras, who can express much thought in short and pithy sentences, +who is apt to understand the mind of one when one begins to speak, +who knows the different divisions of countries and of time, [462] +who is not a slave to his passions, and who is faithful to the king +deserves the name and rank of a Lekhak or writer." [463] + + + + + + +Kewat + + +1. General notice. + +Kewat, Khewat, Kaibartta. [464]--A caste of fishermen, boatmen, +grain-parchers, and cultivators, chiefly found in the Chhattisgarh +Districts of Drug, Raipur, and Bilaspur. They numbered 170,000 persons +in 1911. The Kewats or Kaibarttas, as they are called in Bengal, +are the modern representatives of the Kaivartas, a caste mentioned in +Hindu classical literature. Sir H. Risley explains the origin of the +name as follows: [465] "Concerning the origin of the name Kaibartta +there has been considerable difference of opinion. Some derive it +from ka, water, and vartta, livelihood; but Lassen says that the +use of ka in this sense is extremely unusual in early Sanskrit, +and that the true derivation is Kivarta, a corruption of Kimvarta, +meaning a person following a low or degrading occupation. This, he +adds, would be in keeping with the pedigree assigned to the caste in +Manu, where the Kaivarta, also known as Margava or Dasa, is said to +have been begotten by a Nishada father and an Ayogavi mother, and to +subsist by his labour in boats. On the other hand, the Brahma-Vaivarta +Purana gives the Kaibartta a Kshatriya father and a Vaishya mother, +a far more distinguished parentage; for the Ayogavi having been born +from a Sudra father and a Vaishya mother is classed as pratiloma, +begotten against the hair, or in the inverse order of the precedence +of the castes." The Kewats are a mixed caste. Mr. Crooke says that +they merge on one side into the Mallahs and on the other into the +Binds. In the Central Provinces their two principal subdivisions +are the Laria and Uriya, or the residents of the Chhattisgarh and +Sambalpur plains respectively. The Larias are further split up +into the Larias proper, the Kosbonwas, who grow kosa or tasar silk +cocoons, and the Binjhwars and Dhuris (grain-parchers). The Binjhwars +are a Hinduised group of the Baiga tribe, and in Bhandara they have +become a separate Hindu caste, dropping the first letter of the name, +and being known as Injhwar. The Binjhwar Kewats are a group of the +same nature. The Dhuris are grain-parchers, and there is a separate +Dhuri caste; but as grain-parching is also a traditional occupation +of the Kewats, the Dhuris may be an offshoot from them. The Kewats +are so closely connected with the Dhimars that it is difficult to +make any distinction; in Chhattisgarh it is said that the Dhimars +will not act as ferrymen, while the Kewats will not grow or sell +singara or water-nut. The Dhimars worship their fishing-nets on the +Akti day, which the Kewats will not do. Both the Kewats and Dhimars +are almost certainly derived from the primitive tribes. The Kewats +say that formerly the Hindus would not take water from them; but +on one occasion during his exile Rama came to them and asked them +to ferry him across a river; before doing so they washed his feet +and drank the water, and since that time the Hindus have considered +them pure and take water from their hands. This story has no doubt +been invented to explain the fact that Brahmans will take water from +the non-Aryan Kewats, the custom having in reality been adopted as +a convenience on account of their employment as palanquin-bearers +and indoor servants. But in Saugor, where they are not employed as +servants, and also grow san-hemp, their position is distinctly lower +and no high caste will take water from them. + + + + +2. Exogamous divisions and marriage. + +The caste have also a number of exogamous groups, generally named +after plants or animals, or bearing some nickname given to the reputed +founder. Instances of the first class are Tuma, a gourd, Karsayal, +a deer, Bhalwa, a bear, Ghughu, an owl, and so on. Members of such a +sept abstain from injuring the animal after which the sept is named or +eating its flesh; those of the Tuma sept worship a gourd with offerings +of milk and a cocoanut at the Holi festival. Instances of titular names +are Garhtod, one who destroyed a fort, Jhagarha quarrelsome, Dehri +priest, Kala black, and so on. One sept is named Rawat, its founder +having probably belonged to the grazier caste. Members of this sept +must not visit the temple of Mahadeo at Rajim during the annual fair, +but give no explanation of the prohibition. Others are the Ahira, +also from the Ahir (herdsman) caste; the Rautele, which is the name +of a subdivision of Kols and other tribes; and the Sonwani or 'gold +water' sept, which is often found among the primitive tribes. In some +localities these three have now developed into separate subcastes, +marrying among themselves; and if any of their members become +Kabirpanthis, the others refuse to eat and intermarry with them. The +marriage of members of the same sept is prohibited, and also the union +of first cousins. Girls are generally married under ten years of age, +but if a suitable husband cannot be found for a daughter, the parents +will make her over to any member of the caste who offers himself on +condition that he bears the expenses of the marriage. In Sambalpur she +is married to a flower. Sir H. Risley notes [466] the curious fact +that in Bihar it is deemed less material that the bridegroom should +be older than the bride than that he should be taller. "This point is +of the first importance, and is ascertained by actual measurement. If +the boy shorter than the girl, or if his height is exactly the same as +hers, it is believed that the union of the two would bring ill-luck, +and the match is at once broken off." The marriage is celebrated in +the customary manner by walking round the sacred pole, after which the +bridegroom marks the forehead of the bride seven times with vermilion, +parts her hair with a comb, and then draws her cloth over her head. The +last act signifies that the bride has become a married woman, as a +girl never covers her head. In Bengal [467] a drop of blood is drawn +from the fingers of the bride and bridegroom and mixed with rice, and +each eats the rice containing the blood of the other. The anointing +with vermilion is probably a substitute for this. Widow-remarriage +and divorce are permitted. In Sambalpur a girl who is left a widow +under ten years of age is remarried with full rites as a virgin. + + + + +3. Social customs. + +The Kewats worship the ordinary Hindu deities and believe that a +special goddess, Chaurasi Devi, dwells in their boats and keeps them +from sinking. She is propitiated at the beginning of the rains and in +times of flood, and an image of her is painted on their boats. They +bury the dead, laying the corpse with the feet to the south, while some +clothes, cotton, til and salt are placed in the grave, apparently as +a provision for the dead man's soul. They worship their ancestors at +intervals on a Monday or a Saturday with an offering of a fowl. As is +usual in Chhattisgarh, their rules as to food are very lax, and they +will eat both fowls and pork. Nevertheless Brahmans will take water +at their hands and eat the rice and gram which they have parched. The +caste consider fishing to have been their original occupation, and +tell a story to the effect that their ancestors saved the deity in +their boat on the occasion of the Deluge, and in return were given +the power of catching three or four times as many fish as ordinary +persons in the same space of time. Some of them parch gram and rice, +and others act as coolies and banghy-bearers. [468] Kewats are usually +in poor circumstances, but they boast that the town of Bilaspur is +named after Bilasa Keotin, a woman of their caste. She was married, +but was sought after by the king of the country, so she held out her +cloth to the sun, calling on him to set it on fire, and was burnt +alive, preserving her virtue. Her husband burnt himself with her, +and the pair ascended to heaven. + + + + + + +KHAIRWAR + + +[Authorities: Colonel Dalton's Ethnology of Bengal; Sir H. Risley's +Tribes and Castes of Bengal; Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes of the +N.-W.P. and Oudh.] + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Historical notice of the tribe. + 2. Its origin. + 3. Tribal subdivisions. + 4. Exogamous septs. + 5. Marriage. + 6. Disposal of the dead. + 7. Religion. + 8. Inheritance. + 9. The Khairwas of Damoh. + + + + +1. Historical notice of the tribe. + +Khairwar, Kharwar, Khaira, Khairwa. [469]--A primitive tribe of the +Chota Nagpur plateau and Bihar. Nearly 20,000 Khairwars are now under +the jurisdiction of the Central Provinces, of whom two-thirds belong +to the recently acquired Sarguja State, and the remainder to the +adjoining States and the Bilaspur District. A few hundred Khairwars or +Khairwas are also returned from the Damoh District in the Bundelkhand +country. Colonel Dalton considers the Khairwars to be closely connected +with the Cheros. He relates that the Cheros, once dominant in Gorakhpur +and Shahabad, were expelled from these tracts many centuries ago by the +Gorkhas and other tribes, and came into Palamau. "It is said that the +Palamau population then consisted of Kharwars, Gonds, Mars, Korwas, +Parheyas and Kisans. Of these the Kharwars were the people of most +consideration. The Cheros conciliated them and allowed them to remain +in peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sarguja; all +the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained military +service grants of land, which they still retain. It is popularly +asserted that at the commencement of the Chero rule in Palamau they +numbered twelve thousand families and the Kharwars eighteen thousand, +and if an individual of one or the other is asked to what tribe he +belongs, he will say not that he is a Chero or a Kharwar, but that he +belongs to the twelve thousand or the eighteen thousand, as the case +may be. Intermarriages between Chero and Kharwar families have taken +place. A relative of the Palamau Raja married a sister of Maninath +Singh, Raja of Ramgarh, and this is among themselves an admission +of identity of origin, as both claiming to be Rajputs they could not +intermarry till it was proved to the satisfaction of the family priest +that the parties belonged to the same class.... The Rajas of Ramgarh +and Jashpur are members of this tribe, who have nearly succeeded in +obliterating their Turanian traits by successive intermarriages with +Aryan families. The Jashpur Raja is wedded to a lady of pure Rajput +blood, and by liberal dowries has succeeded in obtaining a similar +union for three of his daughters. It is a costly ambition, but there +is no doubt that the liberal infusion of fresh blood greatly improves +the Kharwar physique." [470] This passage demonstrates the existence +of a close connection between the Cheros and Khairwars. Elsewhere +Colonel Dalton connects the Santals with the Khairwars as follows: +[471] "A wild goose coming from the great ocean alighted at Ahiri +Pipri and there laid two eggs. From these two eggs a male and female +were produced, who were the parents of the Santal race. From Ahiri +Pipri our (Santal) ancestors migrated to Hara Dutti, and there they +greatly increased and multiplied and were called Kharwar." This also +affords some reason for supposing that the Khairwars are an offshoot +of the Cheros and Santals. Mr. Crooke remarks, "That in Mirzapur the +people themselves derive their name either from their occupation as +makers of catechu (khair) or on account of their emigration from +some place called Khairagarh, regarding which there is a great +difference of opinion. If the Santal tradition is to be accepted, +Khairagarh is the place of that name in the Hazaribagh District; but +the Mirzapur tradition seems to point to some locality in the south +or west, in which case Khairagarh may be identified with the most +important of the Chhattisgarh Feudatory States, or with the pargana +of that name in the Allahabad District." [472] According to their +own traditions in Chota Nagpur, Sir H. Risley states that, [473] +"The Kharwars declare their original seat to have been the fort of +Rohtas, so called as having been the chosen abode of Rohitaswa, son of +Harischandra, of the family of the Sun. From this ancient house they +also claim descent, calling themselves Surajvansis, and wearing the +Janeo or caste thread distinguishing the Rajputs. A less flattering +tradition makes them out to be the offspring of a marriage between +a Kshatriya man and a Bhar woman contracted in the days of King Ben, +when distinctions of caste were abolished and men might marry whom they +would." A somewhat similar story of themselves is told by the tribe +in the Bamra State. Here they say that their original ancestors were +the Sun and a daughter of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, who lived +in the town of Sara. She was very beautiful and the Sun desired her, +and began blowing into a conch-shell to express his passion. While +the girl was gaping at the sight and sound, a drop of the spittle fell +into her mouth and impregnated her. Subsequently a son was born from +her arm and a daughter from her thigh, who were known as Bhujbalrai +and Janghrai. [474] Bhujbalrai was given great strength by the Sun, +and he fought with the people of the country, and became king of +Rathgarh. But in consequence of this he and his family grew proud, +and Lakshmi determined to test them whether they were worthy of the +riches she had given them. So she came in the guise of a beggar to +the door, but was driven away without alms. On this she cursed them, +and said that their descendants, the Khairwars, should always be +poor, and should eke out a scanty subsistence from the forests. And +in consequence the Khairwars have ever since been engaged in boiling +wood for catechu. Mr. Hira Lal identifies the Rathgarh of this story +with the tract of Rath in the north of the Raigarh State and the town +of Sara, where Lakshmi's daughter lived and her children were born, +with Saria in Sarangarh. + + + + +2. Its origin. + +On the information available as to the past history of the tribe it +seems probable that the Khairwars may, as suggested by Sir H. Risley, +be an offshoot from some other group. The most probable derivation of +the name seems to be from the khair or catechu tree (Acacia catechu); +and it may be supposed that it was the adoption as a calling of the +making of catechu which led to their differentiation. Mr. Crooke +derives their name either from the khair tree or a place called +Khairagarh; but this latter name almost certainly means 'The fort of +the khair trees.' The Khairwas or Khairwars of the Kaimur hills, who +are identified by Colonel Dalton and in the India Census of 1901 with +the Khairwars of Chota Nagpur, are certainly named after the tree; +they are generally recognised as being Gonds who have taken to the +business of boiling catechu, and are hence distinguished, being a +little looked down upon by other Gonds. Mr. Crooke describes them +in Mirzapur as "Admittedly a compound of various jungle tribes who +have taken to this special occupation; while according to another +account they are the offspring of the Saharias or Saonrs, with whom +their sept names are said to be identical." He also identifies them +with the Kathkaris of Bombay, whose name means 'makers of katha or +prepared catechu.' The Khairwars of Chota Nagpur have everywhere a +subdivision which makes catechu, this being known as Khairchura in +the Central Provinces, Khairi in Bengal and Khairaha in the United +Provinces. This group is looked down upon by the other Khairwars, +who consider their occupation to be disreputable and do not marry with +them. Possibly the preparation of catechu, like basket- and mat-making, +is despised as being a profession practised by primitive dwellers in +forests, and so those Khairwars who have become more civilised are now +anxious to disclaim it. Sir H. Risley has several times pointed out the +indeterminate nature of the constitution of the Chota Nagpur tribes, +between several of whom intermarriage is common. And it seems certain +that the tribes as we know them now must have been differentiated +from one or more common stocks much in the same fashion as castes, +though rather by the influence of local settlement than by differences +of occupation, and at a much earlier date. And on the above facts it +seems likely that the Khairwars of Chota Nagpur are an occupational +offshoot of the Cheros and Santals, as those of the Kaimur hills are +of the Gonds and Savars. + + + + +3. Tribal subdivisions. + +Colonel Dalton states that the tribe had four subdivisions, Bhogta, +Mahto, Rawat and Manjhi. Of these Mahto simply means a village headman, +and is used as a title by many castes and tribes; Rawat is a term +meaning chief, and is in common use as a title; and Manjhi too is a +title, being specially applied to boatmen, and also means a village +headman among the Santals. These divisions, too, afford some reason for +considering the tribe to be a mixed group. Other occupational subtribes +are recorded by Sir H. Risley, and are found in the Central Provinces, +but these apparently have grown up since Colonel Dalton's time. + +The most important group in Bengal are the Bhogtas, who are found, +says Colonel Dalton, "In the hills of Palamau, skirting Sarguja, +in Tori and Bhanwar Pahar of Chota Nagpur and other places. They +have always had an indifferent reputation. The head of the clan in +Palamau was a notorious freebooter, who, after having been outlawed +and successfully evaded every attempt to capture him, obtained a jagir +[475] on his surrendering and promising to keep the peace. He kept +to his engagement and died in fair repute, but his two sons could not +resist the opportunity afforded by the disturbances of 1857-58. After +giving much trouble they were captured; one was hanged, the other +transported for life and the estate was confiscated." Mr. Crooke +notes that the Khairwars since adopting Hinduism performed human +sacrifices to Kali. Some of our people who fell into their hands +during the Mutiny were so dealt with. [476] + +In the Central Provinces there is a group known as Surajvansi or +Descendants of the Sun, or Janeodhari, 'Those who wear the sacred +thread.' This is the aristocratic division of the caste, to which +the chiefs and zamindars belong, and according to the usual practice +they have consolidated their higher position by marrying only among +themselves. Other groups are the Dualbandhi, who say that they are +so called because they make a livelihood by building the earthen +diwals or walls for houses and yards; but in Mirzapur they derive +the name from dual, a leather belt which is supposed to have been +the uniform of their forefathers when serving as soldiers. [477] +The Patbandhi or silk-makers, according to their own story, are thus +named because their ancestors were once very rich and wore silk; +but a more probable hypothesis is that they were rearers of tasar +silk cocoons. The Beldar or Matkora work as navvies, and are also +known as Kawarvansi or 'Descendants of the Kawars,' another tribe of +the locality; and last come the Khairchura, who take their name from +the khair tree and are catechu-makers. + + + + +4. Exogamous septs. + +The tribe have a large number of exogamous groups named after plants +and animals. Members of the mouse, tortoise, parrot, pig, monkey, +vulture, banyan tree and date-palm septs worship their totem animal +or tree, and when they find the dead body of the animal they throw +away an earthen cooking-pot to purify themselves, as is done when +a member of the family dies. Those of the Dhan (rice), Non (salt), +Dila (plough) and Dhenki (rice pounding-lever) septs cannot dispense +with the use of these objects, but make a preliminary obeisance before +employing them. Those of the Kansi sept sprinkle water mixed with kans +[478] grass over the bride and bridegroom at the marriage ceremony, +and those of the Chandan or sandalwood sept apply sandal-paste to +their foreheads. They cannot clearly explain the meaning of these +observances, but some of them have a vague idea that they are descended +from the totem object. + + + + +5. Marriage. + +Marriage is either infant or adult, and in the latter case a girl is +not disposed of without her consent. A bride-price varying from five +to ten rupees is paid, and in the case of a girl given to a widower +the amount is doubled. The Hindu ceremonial has been adopted for the +wedding, and an auspicious day is fixed by a Brahman. In Bengal Sir +H. Risley notes that "Remnants of non-Aryan usage may be discerned in +the marriage ceremony itself. Both parties must first go through the +form of marriage to a mango tree or at least a branch of the tree; +and must exchange blood mixed with sindur, though in the final and +binding act sindur alone is smeared by the bridegroom upon the bride's +forehead and the parting of her hair." As has been pointed out by +Mr. Crooke, the custom of smearing vermilion on the bride's forehead is +a substitute for an earlier anointing with blood; just as the original +idea underlying the offering of a cocoanut was that of substitution +for a human head. In some cases blood alone is still used. Thus Sir +H. Risley notes that among the Birhors the marriage rite is performed +by drawing blood from the little fingers of the bride and bridegroom +and smearing it on each of them. [479] The blood-covenant by which +a bride was admitted to her husband's sept by being smeared with his +blood is believed to have been a common rite among primitive tribes. + + + + +6. Disposal of the dead. + +As a rule, the tribe bury the dead, though the Hindu custom of +cremation is coming into fashion among the well-to-do. Before the +interment they carry the corpse seven times round the grave, and it is +buried with the feet pointing to the north. They observe mourning for +ten days and abstain from animal food and liquor during that period. A +curious custom is reported from the Bilaspur District, where it is +said that children cut a small piece of flesh from the finger of a +dead parent and swallow it, considering this as a requital for the +labour of the mother in having carried the child for nine months in her +womb. So in return they carry a piece of her flesh in their bodies. But +the correct explanation as given by Sir J. G. Frazer is that they do +it to prevent themselves from being haunted by the ghosts of their +parents. "Thus Orestes, [480] after he had gone mad from murdering +his mother, recovered his wits by biting off one of his own fingers; +since his victim was his own mother it might be supposed that the +tasting of his own blood was the same as hers; and the furies of his +murdered mother, which had appeared black to him before, appeared +white as soon as he had mutilated himself in this way. The Indians +of Guiana believe that an avenger of blood who has slain his man +must go mad unless he tastes the blood of his victim, the notion +apparently being that the ghost drives him crazy. A similar custom +was observed by the Maoris in battle. When a warrior had slain his +foe in combat, he tasted his blood, believing that this preserved him +from the avenging spirit (atua) of his victim; for they imagined that +'the moment a slayer had tasted the blood of the slain, the dead man +became a part of his being and placed him under the protection of the +atua or guardian-spirit of the deceased.' Some of the North American +Indians also drank the blood of their enemies in battle. Strange as +it may seem, this truly savage superstition exists apparently in +Italy to this day. There is a widespread opinion in Calabria that +if a murderer is to escape he must suck his victim's blood from the +reeking blade of the dagger with which he did the deed." + + + + +7. Religion. + +The religion of the tribe is of the usual animistic type. Colonel +Dalton notes that they have, like the Kols, a village priest, known +as Pahan or Baiga. He is always one of the impure tribes, a Bhuiya, +a Kharwar or a Korwa, and he offers a great triennial sacrifice of a +buffalo in the sacred grove, or on a rock near the village. The fact +that the Khairwars employed members of the Korwa and Bhuiya tribes +as their village priests may be taken to indicate that the latter +are the earlier residents of the country, and are on this account +employed by the Khairwars as later arrivals for the conciliation of +the indigenous deities. Colonel Dalton states that the Khairwars made +no prayers to any of the Hindu gods, but when in great trouble they +appealed to the sun. In the Central Provinces the main body of the +tribe, and particularly those who belong to the landholding class, +profess the Hindu religion. + + + + +8. Inheritance. + +The Khairwars have now also adopted the Hindu rule of inheritance, +and have abandoned the tribal custom which Sir H. Risley records +as existing in Bengal. "Here the eldest son of the senior wife, +even if younger than one of the sons of the second wife, inherits +the entire property, subject to the obligation of providing for all +other legitimate children. If the inheritance consists of land, the +heir is expected to create separate maintenance grants in favour of +his younger brothers. Daughters can never inherit, but are entitled +to live in the ancestral home till they are married." [481] + + + + +9. The Khairwas of Damoh. + +The Khairwas or Khairwars of the Kaimur hills are derived, as already +seen, from the Gonds and Savars, and therefore are ethnologically +a distinct group from those of the Chota Nagpur plateau, who have +been described above. But as nearly every caste is made up of diverse +ethnological elements held together by the tie of a common occupation, +it does not seem worth while to treat these groups separately. Colonel +Dalton, who also identifies them with the main tribe, records an +interesting notice of them at an earlier period: [482] + +"There is in the seventh volume of the Asiatic Researches a notice +of the Kharwars of the Kaimur hills in the Mirzapur District, to the +north of the Son river, by Captain J. P. Blunt, who in his journey from +Chunar to Ellora in A.D. 1794, met with them and describes them as a +very primitive tribe. He visited one of their villages consisting of +half a dozen poor huts, and though proceeding with the utmost caution, +unattended, to prevent alarm, the inhabitants fled at his approach. The +women were seen, assisted by the men, carrying off their children and +moving with speed to hide themselves in the woods. It was observed +that they were nearly naked, and the only articles of domestic use +found in the deserted huts were a few gourds for water-vessels, some +bows and arrows, and some fowls as wild as their masters. With great +difficulty, by the employment of Kols as mediators, some of the men +were induced to return. They were nearly naked, but armed with bows +and arrows and a hatchet." + +In Damoh the Khairwars are said to come from Panna State. During the +working season they live in temporary sheds in the forest, and migrate +from place to place as the supply of trees is exhausted. Having cut +down a tree they strip off the bark and cut the inner and tender wood +into small pieces, which are boiled for two or three days until a thick +black paste is obtained. From this the water is allowed to drain off, +and the residue is made into cakes and dried in the sun. It is eaten +in small pieces with betel-leaf and areca-nut. Duty is levied by the +Forest Department at the rate of a rupee per handi or pot in which +boiling is carried on. In Bombay various superstitious observances +are connected with the manufacture of catechu; and Mr. Crooke quoted +the following description of them from the Bombay Gazetteer: [483] +"Every year on the day after the Holi the chulha ceremony takes +place. In a trench seven feet long by three, and about three deep, +khair logs are carefully stacked and closely packed till they stand in +a heap about three feet above ground. The pile is then set on fire and +allowed to burn to the level of the ground. The village sweeper breaks +a cocoanut, kills a couple of fowls and sprinkles a little liquor near +the pile. Then, after washing their feet, the sweeper and the village +headman walk barefoot hurriedly across the fire. After this strangers +come to fulfil vows, and giving one anna and a half cocoanut to the +sweeper, and the other half cocoanut to the headman, wash their feet, +and turning to the left, walk over the pile. The fire seems to cause +none of them any pain." The following description of the Kathkaris +as hunters of monkeys is also taken by Mr. Crooke from the Bombay +Gazetteer: [484] "The Kathkaris represent themselves as descended from +the monkeys of Rama. Now that their legitimate occupation of preparing +catechu (kath) has been interfered with, they subsist almost entirely +by hunting, and habitually kill and eat monkeys, shooting them with +bows and arrows. In order to approach within range they are obliged +to have recourse to stratagems, as the monkeys at once recognise them +in their ordinary costume. The ruse usually adopted is for one of the +best shots to put on a woman's robe (sari), under the ample folds of +which he conceals his murderous weapons. Approaching the tree in which +the monkeys are seated, the sportsman affects the utmost unconcern, +and busies himself with the innocent occupation of picking up twigs +and leaves, and thus disarming suspicion he is enabled to get a +sufficiently close shot to render success a certainty." + + + + + + +Khandait + + +Khandait, Khandayat.--The military caste of Orissa, the word Khandait +meaning 'swordsman,' and being derived from the Uriya khanda, a +sword. Sir H. Risley remarks of the Khandaits: [485] "The caste is +for the most part, if not entirely, composed of Bhuiyas, whose true +affinities have been disguised under a functional name, while their +customs, their religion and in some cases even their complexion and +features have been modified by long contact with Hindus of relatively +pure Aryan descent. The ancient Rajas of Orissa kept up large armies +and partitioned the land on strictly military tenures. These armies +consisted of various castes and races, the upper ranks being officered +by men of good Aryan descent, while the lower ones were recruited +from the low castes alike of the hills and the plains. In the social +system of Orissa, the Sresta or 'best' Khandaits rank next to the +Rajputs, who have not the intimate connection with the land which +has helped to raise the Khandaits to their present position." The +Khandaits are thus like the Marathas, and the small body of Paiks +in the northern Districts, a caste formed from military service; +and though recruited for the most part originally from the Dravidian +tribes, they have obtained a considerable rise in status owing to their +occupation and the opportunity which has been afforded to many of them +to become landholders. The best Khandaits now aspire to Rajput rank, +while the bulk of them have the position of cultivators, from whom +Brahmans will take water, or a much higher one than they are entitled +to by descent. In [486] the Central Provinces the Khandaits have no +subcastes, and only two gotras or clans, named after the Kachhap or +tortoise and the Nagas or cobra respectively. These divisions appear, +however, to be nominal, and do not regulate marriage, as to which +the only rule observed is that persons whose descent can be traced +from the same parent should not marry each other. Early marriage is +usual, and if a girl arrives at adolescence without a husband having +been found for her, she goes through the ceremony of wedlock with an +arrow. Polygamy is permitted, but a person resorting to it is looked +down on and nicknamed Maipkhia or wife-eater. The essential portion of +the marriage ceremony is the bandan or tying of the hands of the bride +and bridegroom together with kusha grass. The bridegroom must lift +up the bride and walk seven times round the marriage altar carrying +her. Widow-marriage and divorce are permitted in the Central Provinces, +and Brahmans are employed for religious and ceremonial purposes. + + + + + + +KHANGAR + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Origin and traditions. + 2. Caste subdivisions. + 3. Marriage. + 4. Religion. + 5. Social status. + 6. Occupation. + + + + +1. Origin and traditions. + +Khangar, [487] called also Kotwal, Jemadar or Darbania (gatekeeper).--A +low caste of village watchmen and field-labourers belonging to +Bundelkhand, and found in the Saugor, Damoh, Narsinghpur and Jubbulpore +Districts. They numbered nearly 13,000 in 1911. The Khangars are +also numerous in the United Provinces. Hindu ingenuity has evolved +various explanations of the word Khangar, such as 'khand,' a pit, +and 'gar,' maker, digger, because the Khangar digs holes in other +people's houses for the purposes of theft. The caste is, however, +almost certainly of non-Aryan origin, and there is little doubt also +that Bundelkhand was its original home. It may be noted that the Munda +tribe have a division called Khangar with which the caste may have +some connection. The Khangars themselves relate the following story +of their origin. Their ancestors were formerly the rulers of the fort +and territory of Kurar in Bundelkhand, when a Bundela Rajput came +and settled there. The Bundela had a very pretty daughter whom the +Khangar Raja demanded in marriage. The Bundela did not wish to give +his daughter to the Khangar, but could not refuse the Raja outright, +so he said that he would consent if all the Khangars would agree +to adopt Bundela practices. This the Khangars readily agreed to do, +and the Bundela thereupon invited them all to a wedding feast, and +having summoned his companions and plied the Khangars with liquor +until they were dead drunk, cut them all to pieces. One pregnant +woman only escaped by hiding in a field of kusum or safflower, +[488] and on this account the Khangars still venerate the kusum and +will not wear cloths dyed with saffron. She fled to the house of +a Muhammadan eunuch or Fakir, who gave her shelter and afterwards +placed her with a Dangi landowner. The Bundelas followed her up and +came to the house of the Dangi, who denied that the Khangar woman was +with him. The Bundelas then asked him to make all the women in his +house eat together to prove that none of them was the Khangarin, on +which the Dangi five times distributed the maihar, a sacrificial cake +which is only given to relations, to all the women of the household +including the Khangarin, and thus convinced the Bundelas that she was +not in the house. The woman who was thus saved became the ancestor +of the whole Khangar caste, and in memory of this act the Khangars +and Nadia Dangis are still each bidden to eat the maihar cake at the +weddings of the other, or at least so it is said; while the Fakirs, +in honour of this great occasion when one of their number acted as +giver rather than receiver, do not beg for alms at the wedding of a +Khangar, but on the contrary bring presents. The basis of the story, +that the Khangars were the indigenous inhabitants of Bundelkhand and +were driven out and slaughtered by the immigrant Bundelas, may not +improbably be historically correct. It is also said that no Khangar is +even now allowed to enter the fort of Kurar, and that the spirit of +the murdered chief still haunts it; so that if a bed is placed there +in the evening with a tooth-stick, the tooth-stick will be split in +the morning as after use, and the bed will appear as if it had been +slept in. [489] + + + + +2. Caste subdivisions. + +The caste has four subdivisions, named Rai, Mirdha or Nakib, Karbal +and Dahat. The Rai or royal Khangars are the highest group and +practise hypergamy with families of the Mirdha and Karbal groups, +taking daughters from them in marriage but not giving their daughters +to them. The Mirdhas or Nakibs are so called because they act as +mace-bearers and form the bodyguard of princes. Very few, if any, +are to be found in the Central Provinces. The Karbal are supposed +to be especially valorous. The Dahats have developed into a separate +caste called Dahait, and are looked down on by all the other divisions +as they keep pigs. The caste is also divided into numerous exogamous +septs, all of which are totemistic; and the members of the sept usually +show veneration to the object from which the sept takes its name. Some +of the names of septs are as follows: Bachhiya from bachhra a calf; +Barha from barah a pig, this sept worshipping the pig; Belgotia from +the bel tree; Chandan from the sandalwood tree; Chirai from chiriya +a bird, this sept revering sparrows; Ghurgotia from ghora a horse +(members of this sept touch the feet of a horse before mounting it and +do not ride on a horse in wedding processions); Guae from the iguana; +Hanuman from the monkey god; Hathi from the elephant; Kasgotia from +kansa bell-metal (members of this sept do not use vessels of bell-metal +on ceremonial occasions nor sell them); Mahiyar from maihar fried cakes +(members of this sept do not use ghi at their weddings and may not sell +ghi by weight though they may sell it by measure); San after san-hemp +(members of this sept place pieces of hemp near their family god); +Sandgotia from sand a bullock; Tambagotia from tamba copper; and Vishnu +from the god of that name, whom the sept worship. The names of 31 septs +in all are reported and there are probably others. The fact that two or +three septs are named after Hindu deities may be noticed as peculiar. + + + + +3. Marriage. + +The marriage of members of the same sept is prohibited and also +that of first cousins. Girls are usually married at about ten +years of age, the parents of the girl having to undertake the +duty of finding a husband. The ceremonial in vogue in the northern +Districts is followed throughout, an astrologer being consulted to +ascertain that the horoscopes of the pair are favourable, and a +Brahman employed to draw up the lagan or auspicious paper fixing +the date of the marriage. The bridegroom is dressed in a yellow +gown and over-cloth, with trousers of red chintz, red shoes, and +a marriage-crown of date-palm leaves. He has the silver ornaments +usually worn by women on his neck, as the khangwari or silver ring, +and the hamel or necklace of rupees. In order to avert the evil +eye he carries a dagger or nutcracker, and a smudge of lampblack is +made on his forehead to disfigure him and thus avert the evil eye, +which it is thought would otherwise be too probably attracted by his +exquisitely beautiful appearance in his wedding garments. The binding +portion of the ceremony is the bhanwar or walking round the sacred +post of the munga tree (Moringa pterygosperma). This is done six times +by the couple, the bridegroom leading, and they then make a seventh +turn round the bedi or sacrificial fire. If the bride is a child this +seventh round is omitted at the marriage and performed at the Dusarta +or going-away ceremony. After the marriage the haldi ceremony takes +place, the father of the bridegroom being dressed in women's clothes; +he then dances with the mother of the bride, while they throw turmeric +mixed with water over each other. Widow-marriage is allowed, and the +widow may marry anybody in the caste; the ceremony consists in the +placing of bangles on her wrist, and is always performed at night, +a Wednesday being usually selected. A feast must afterwards be given +to the caste-fellows. Divorce is also permitted, and may be effected +at the instance of either party in the presence of the caste panchayat +or committee. When a husband divorces his wife he must give a feast. + + + + +4. Religion. + +The Khangars worship the usual Hindu deities and especially +venerate Dulha Deo, a favourite household godling in the northern +Districts. Pachgara Deo is a deity who seems to have been created +to commemorate the occasion when the Dangi distributed the marriage +cakes five times to the fugitive ancestress of the caste. His cult is +now on the decline, but some still consider him the most important +deity of all, and it is said that no Khangar will tell an untruth +after having sworn by this god. Children dying unmarried and persons +dying of leprosy or smallpox are buried, while others are buried or +burnt according as the family can afford the more expensive rite of +cremation or not. As among other castes a corpse must not be burnt +between sunset and sunrise, as it is believed that this would cause +the soul to be born blind in the next birth. Nor must the corpse be +wrapped in stitched clothes, as in that case the child in which it is +reincarnated would be born with its arms and legs entangled. The corpse +is laid on its back and some ghi, til, barley cakes and sandalwood, +if available, are placed on the body. The soul of the deceased is +believed to haunt the house for three days, and each night a lamp +and a little water in an earthen pot are placed ready for it. When +cremation takes place the ashes are collected on the third day and +the burning ground is cleaned with cowdung and sprinkled with milk, +mustard and salt, in order that a cow may lick over the place and the +soul of the deceased may thus find more easy admission into Baikunth or +heaven. Well-to-do persons take the bones of the dead to the Ganges, a +few from the different parts of the body being selected and tied round +the bearer's neck. Mourning is usually only observed for three days. + + + + +5. Social status. + +The Khangars do not admit outsiders into the caste, except children +born of a Khangar father and a mother belonging to one of the highest +castes. A woman going wrong with a man of another caste is finally +expelled, but liaisons within the caste may be atoned for by the +usual penalty of a feast. The caste eat flesh and drink liquor but +abjure fowls, pork and beef. They will take food cooked without +water from Banias, Sunars and Tameras, but katchi roti only from +the Brahmans who act as their priests. Such Brahmans are received +on terms of equality by others of the caste. Khangars bathe daily, +and their women take off their outer cloth to eat food, because this +is not washed every day. Food cooked with water must be consumed in +the chauka or place where it is prepared, and not carried outside +the house. Men of the caste often have the suffix Singh after their +names in imitation of the Rajputs. Although their social observances +are thus in some respects strict, the status of the caste is low, +and Brahmans do not take water from them. + + + + +6. Occupation. + +The Khangars say that their ancestors were soldiers, but at present +they are generally tenants, field-labourers and village watchmen. They +were formerly noted thieves, and several proverbs remain in testimony +to this. "The Khangar is strong only when he possesses a khunta (a +pointed iron rod to break through the wall of a house)." 'The Sunar +and the Khangar only flourish together'; because the Sunar acts as a +receiver of the property stolen by the Khangar. They are said to have +had different ways of breaking into a house, those who got through +the roof being called chhappartor, while others who dug through +the side walls were known as khonpaphor. They have now, however, +generally relinquished their criminal practices and settled down to +live as respectable citizens. + + + + + + +KHARIA + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice. + 2. Legend of origin. + 3. Subcastes. + 4. Exogamy and totemism. + 5. Marriage. + 6. Taboos as to food. + 7. Widow-marriage and divorce. + 8. Religion. + 9. Funeral rites. + 10. Bringing back the souls of the dead. + 11. Social customs. + 12. Caste rules and organisation. + 13. Occupation and character. + 14. Language. + + + + +1. General notice. + +Kharia. [490]--A primitive Kolarian tribe, of which about 900 persons +were returned from the Central Provinces in 1911. They belong to the +Bilaspur District and the Jashpur and Raigarh States. The Kharias +are one of the most backward of the Kolarian tribes, and appear to +be allied to the Mundas and Savars. Colonel Dalton says of them: +"In the Chota Nagpur estate they are found in large communities, and +the Kharias belonging to these communities are far more civilised than +those who live apart. Their best settlements lie near the southern +Koel river, which stream they venerate as the Santals do the Damudar, +and into it they throw the ashes of their dead." Chota Nagpur is the +home of the Kharias, and their total strength is over a lakh. They +are found elsewhere only in Assam, where they have probably migrated +to the tea-gardens. + + + + +2. Legend of origin. + +The Kharia legend of origin resembles that of the Mundas, and tends +to show that they are an elder branch of that tribe. They say that +a child was born to a woman in the jungle, and she left it to fetch +a basket in which to carry it home. On her return she saw a cobra +spreading its hood over the child to protect it from the sun. On this +account the child was called Nagvansi (of the race of the cobra), +and became the ancestor of the Nagvansi Rajas of Chota Nagpur. The +Kharias say this child had an elder brother, and the two brothers set +out on a journey, the younger riding a horse and the elder carrying +a kawar or banghy with their luggage. When they came to Chota Nagpur +the younger was made king, on which the elder brother also asked for +a share of the inheritance. The people then put two caskets before +him and asked him to choose one. One of the caskets contained silver +and the other only some earth. The elder brother chose that which +contained earth, and on this he was told that the fate of himself and +his descendants would be to till the soil, and carry banghys as he had +been doing. The Kharias say that they are descended from the elder +brother, while the younger was the ancestor of the Nagvansi Rajas, +who are really Mundas. They say that they can never enter the house +of the Nagvansi Rajas because they stand in the relation of elder +brother-in-law to the Ranis, who are consequently prohibited from +looking on the face of a Kharia. This story is exactly like that of the +Parjas in connection with the Rajas of Bastar. And as the Parjas are +probably an older branch of the Gonds, who were reduced to subjection +by the subsequent Raj-Gond immigrants under the ancestors of the +Bastar Rajas, so it seems a reasonable hypothesis that the Kharias +stood in a similar relationship to the Mundas or Kols. This theory +derives some support from the fact that, according to Sir H. Risley, +the Mundas will take daughters in marriage from the Kharias, but will +not give their daughters to them, and the Kharias speak of the Mundas +as their elder brethren. [491] Mr. Hira Lal suggests that the name +Kharia is derived from kharkhari, a palanquin or litter, and that the +original name Kharkharia has been contracted into Kharia. He states +that in the Uriya country Oraons, who carry litters, are also called +Kharias. This derivation is in accordance with the tradition of the +Kharias that their first ancestor carried a banghy, and with the fact +that the Kols are the best professional dhoolie-bearers. + + + + +3. Subcastes. + +In Raigarh the Kharias have only two subtribes, the Dudh, or milk +Kharias, and the Delki. Of these the Delki are said to be of mixed +origin. They take food from Brahmans, and explain that they do so +because an ancestress went wrong with a Brahman. It seems likely +that they may be descended from the offspring of immigrant Hindus in +Chota Nagpur with Kharia women, like similar subdivisions in other +tribes. The Delkis look down on the Dudh Kharias, saying that the +latter eat the flesh of tigers and monkeys, from which the Delkis +abstain. In Bengal the tribe have two other divisions, the Erenga +and Munda Kharias. + + + + +4. Exogamy and totemism. + +The tribe is divided, like others, into totemistic exogamous septs, +which pay reverence to their totems. Thus members of the Kulu +(tortoise), Kiro (tiger), Nag (cobra), Kankul (leopard) and Kuto +(crocodile) septs abstain from killing their totem animal, fold +their hands in obeisance when they meet it, and taking up some +dust from the animal's track place it on their heads as a mark of +veneration. Certain septs cannot wholly abstain from the consumption +of their sept totem, so they make a compromise. Thus members of the +Baa, or rice sept, cannot help eating rice, but they will not eat the +scum which gathers over the rice as it is being boiled. Those of the +Bilum or salt sept must not take up a little salt on one finger and +suck it, but must always use two or more fingers for conveying salt +to the mouth, presumably as a mark of respect. Members of the Suren +or stone sept will not make ovens with stones but only with clods of +earth. The tribe do not now think they are actually descended from +their totems, but tell stories accounting for the connection. Thus the +Katang Kondai or bamboo sept say that a girl in the family of their +ancestors went to cut bamboos and never came back. Her parents went +to search for her and heard a voice calling out from the bamboos, but +could not find their daughter. Then they understood that the bamboo +was of their own family and must not be cut by them. The supposition +is apparently that the girl was transformed into a bamboo. + + + + +5. Marriage. + +Marriage between members of the same sept is forbidden, but the rule +is not always observed. A brother's daughter may marry a sister's +son, but not vice versa. Marriage is always adult, and overtures come +from the boy's father. The customary bride-price is twelve bullocks, +but many families cannot afford this, and resort is then made to a +fiction. The boy's party make twelve models of bullocks in earth, +and placing each in a leaf-plate send them to the girl's party, who +throw away two, saying that one has been eaten by a tiger, and the +other has fallen into a pit and died. The remaining ten are returned +to the bridegroom's party, who throw away two, saying that they have +been sold to provide liquor for the Panch. For two of the eight now +left real animals are substituted, and for the other six one rupee +each, and the two cattle and six rupees are sent back to the bride's +party as the real bride-price. Poor families, however, give four rupees +instead of the two cattle, and ten rupees is among them considered as +the proper price, though even this is reduced on occasion. The marriage +party goes from the bride's to the bridegroom's house, and consists of +women only. The men do not go, as they say that on one occasion all the +men of a Kharia wedding procession were turned into stones, and they +fear to undergo a similar fate. The real reason may probably be that +the journey of the bride is a symbolic reminiscence of the time when +she was carried off by force, and hence it would be derogatory for the +men to accompany her. The bridegroom comes out to meet the bride riding +on the shoulders of his brother-in-law or paternal aunt's husband, +who is known as Dherha. He touches the bride, and both of them perform +a dance. At the wedding the bridegroom stands on a plough-yoke, and +the bride on a grinding-slab, and the Dherha walks seven times round +them sprinkling water on them from a mango-leaf. The couple are shut +up alone for the night, and next morning the girl goes to the river +to wash her husband's clothes. On her return a fowl is killed, and +the couple drink two drops of its blood in water mixed with turmeric, +as a symbol of the mixing of their own blood. A goat is killed, and +they step in its blood and enter their houses. The caste-people say +to them, "Whenever a Kharia comes to your house, give him a cup of +water and tobacco and food if you have it," and the wedding is over. + + + + +6. Taboos as to food. + +After a girl is married her own mother will not eat food cooked by her, +as no two Kharias will take food together unless they are of the same +sept. When a married daughter goes back to the house of her parents +she cooks her food separately, and does not enter their cook-room; +if she did all the earthen pots would be defiled and would have to be +thrown away. A similar taboo marks the relations of a woman towards +her husband's elder brother, who is known as Kura Sasur. She must +not enter his house nor sit on a cot or stool before him, nor touch +him, nor cook food for him. If she touches him a fine of a fowl with +liquor is imposed by the caste, and for his touching her a goat and +liquor. This idea may perhaps have been established as a check on the +custom of fraternal polyandry, when the idea of the eldest brother +taking the father's place as head of the joint family became prevalent. + + + + +7. Widow-marriage and divorce. + +Widow-marriage is permitted at the price of a feast to the caste, +and the payment of a small sum to the woman's family. A widow must +leave her children with her first husband's family if required to +do so. If she takes them with her they become entitled to inherit +her second husband's property, but receive only a half-share as +against a full share taken by his children. Divorce is permitted +by mutual agreement or for adultery of the woman. But the practice +is not looked upon with favour, and a divorced man or woman rarely +succeeds in obtaining another mate. + + + + +8. Religion. + +The principal deity of the Kharias is a hero called Banda. They +say that an Oraon had vowed to give his daughter to the man who +would clear the kans [492] grass off a hillock. Several men tried, +and at last Banda did it by cutting out the roots. He then demanded +the girl's hand, but the Oraon refused, thinking that Banda had +cleared the grass by magic. Then Banda went away and the girl died, +and on learning of this Banda went and dug her out of her grave, +when she came to life and they were married. Since then Banda has +been worshipped. The tribe also venerate their ploughs and axes, +and on the day of Dasahra they make offerings to the sun. + + + + +9. Funeral rites. + +The tribe bury the dead, placing the head to the north. When the +corpse is taken out of the house two grains of rice are thrown to +each point of the compass to invite the ancestors of the family to +the funeral. And on the way, where two roads meet, the corpse is set +down and a little rice and cotton-seed sprinkled on the ground as a +guiding-mark to the ancestors. Before burial the corpse is anointed +with turmeric and oil, and carried seven times round the grave, +probably as a symbol of marriage to it. Each relative puts a piece +of cloth in the grave, and the dead man's cooking and drinking-pots, +his axe, stick, pipe and other belongings, and a basketful of rice are +buried with him. The mourners set three plants of orai or khas-khas +grass on the grave over the dead man's head, middle and feet, and +then they go to a tank and bathe, chewing the roots of this grass. It +would appear that the orai grass may be an agent of purification or +means of severance from the dead man's ghost, like the leaves of the +sacred nim [493] tree. + + + + +10. Bringing back the souls of the dead. + +On the third day they bathe and are shaved, and catch a fish, which is +divided among all the relatives, however small it may be, and eaten +raw with salt, turmeric and garlic. It seems likely that this fish +may be considered to represent the dead man's spirit, and is eaten in +order to avoid being haunted by his ghost or for some other object, +and the fish may be eaten as a substitute for the dead man's body, +itself consumed in former times. On the tenth night after the death +the soul is called back, a lighted wick being set in a vessel at the +cross-roads where the rice and cotton had been sprinkled. They call +on the dead man, and when the flame of the lamp wavers in the wind +they break the vessel holding the lamp, saying that his soul has come +and joined them, and go home. On the following Dasahra festival, when +ancestors are worshipped, the spirit of the deceased is mingled with +the ancestors. A cock and hen are fed and let loose, and the headman of +the sept calls on the soul to come and join the ancestors and give his +protection to the family. When a man is killed by a tiger the remains +are collected and burnt on the spot. A goat is sacrificed and eaten +by the caste, and thereafter, when a wedding takes place in that man's +family, a goat is offered to his spirit. The Kharias believe that the +spirits of the dead are reborn in children, and on the Barhi day, a +month after the child's birth, they ascertain which ancestor has been +reborn by the usual method of divination with grains of rice in water. + + + + +11. Social customs. + +The strict taboos practised by the tribe as regards food have +already been mentioned. Men will take food from one another, but not +women. Men will also accept food cooked without water from Brahmans, +Rajputs and Bhuiyas. The Kharias will eat almost any kind of flesh, +including crocodile, rat, pig, tiger and bear; they have now generally +abandoned beef in deference to Hindu prejudice, and also monkeys, +though they formerly ate these animals, the Topno sept especially +being noted on this account. + + + + +12. Caste rules and organisation. + +Temporary expulsion from caste is imposed for the usual offences, +and also for getting shaved or having clothes washed by a barber +or washerman other than a member of the caste. This rule seems +to arise either from an ultra-strict desire for social purity or +from a hostile reaction against the Hindus for the low estimation +in which the Kharias are held. Again it is a caste offence to carry +the palanquin of a Kayasth, a Muhammadan, a Koshta (weaver) or a Nai +(barber), or to carry the tazias or representations of the tomb of +Husain in the Muharram procession. The caste have a headman who has +the title of Pardhan, with an assistant called Negi and a messenger +who is known as Ganda. The headman must always be of the Samer sept, +the Negi of the Suren sept, and the Ganda of the Bartha or messenger +sept. The headman's duty is to give water for the first time to caste +offenders on readmission, the Negi must make all arrangements for the +caste feast, and the Ganda goes and summons the tribesmen. In addition +to the penalty feast a cash fine is imposed on an erring member; +of this rather more than half is given to the assembled tribesmen +for the purpose of buying murra or fried grain on their way home on +the following morning. The remaining sum is divided between the three +officers, the Pardhan and Negi getting two shares each and the Ganda +one share. But the division is only approximate, as the Kharias are +unable to do the necessary calculation for an odd number of rupees. The +men have their hair tied in a knot on the right side of the head, +and women on the left. The women are tattooed, but not the men. + +Colonel Dalton writes of the tribal dances: [494] "The nuptial dances +of the Kharias are very wild, and the gestures of the dancers and +the songs all bear more directly than delicately on what is evidently +considered the main object of the festivities, the public recognition +of the consummation of the marriage. The bride and bridegroom +are carried through the dances seated on the hips of two of their +companions. Dancing is an amusement to which the Kharias, like all +Kolarians, are passionately devoted. The only noticeable difference +in their style is that in the energy, vivacity and warmth of their +movements they excel all their brethren." + + + + +13. Occupation and character. + +The Kharias say that their original occupation is to carry dhoolies +or litters, and this, as well as the social rules prohibiting them +from carrying those of certain castes, is in favour of the derivation +of the name from kharkhari, a litter. They are also cultivators, +and collect forest produce. They are a wild and backward tribe, +as shown in the following extracts from an account by Mr. Ball: +[495] "The first Kharias I met with were encamped in the jungle +at the foot of some hills. The hut was rudely made of a few sal +branches, its occupants being one man, an old and two young women, +besides three or four children. At the time of my visit they were +taking their morning meal; and as they regarded my presence with +the utmost indifference, without even turning round or ceasing from +their occupations, I remained for some time watching them. They had +evidently recently captured some small animal, but what it was, as +they had already eaten the skin, I could not ascertain. As I looked +on, the old woman distributed to the others, on plates of sal leaves, +what appeared to be the entrails of the animal, and wrapping up her +own portion between a couple of leaves threw it on the fire in order +to give it a very primitive cooking. With regard to their ordinary +food the Kharias chiefly depend on the jungle for a supply of fruits, +leaves and roots. + +"The Kharias never make iron themselves, but are altogether dependent +on the neighbouring bazars for their supplies. Had they at any +period possessed a knowledge of the art of making iron, conservative +of their customs as such races are, it is scarcely likely that they +would have forgotten it. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose +that there was a period prior to the advent of the Hindus when iron +was quite unknown to them--when, owing to the absence of cultivation +in the plains, they were even more dependent on the supply of jungle +food than they are at present. In those times their axes and their +implements for grubbing up roots were in all probability made of stone, +and their arrows had tips of the same material. + +"In their persons the Kharias are very dirty, seldom if ever washing +themselves. Their features are decidedly of a low character, not +unlike the Bhumij, but there seemed to me to be an absence of any +strongly-marked type in their faces or build, such as enables one to +know a Santal and even a Kurmi at a glance." + + + + +14. Language. + +Of the Kharia dialect Sir George Grierson states that it is closely +allied to Savara, and has also some similarity to Korku and Juang: +[496] "Kharia grammar has all the characteristics of a language which +is gradually dying out and being superseded by dialects of quite +different families. The vocabulary is strongly Aryanised, and Aryan +principles have pervaded the grammatical structure. Kharia is no longer +a typical Munda language. It is like a palimpsest, the original writing +on which can only be recognised with some difficulty." [497] An account +of the Kharia dialect has been published in Mr. G. B. Banerjee's +Introduction to the Kharia Language (Calcutta, 1894). + + + + + + +Khatik + + +Khatik.--A functional caste of Hindu mutton-butchers and vegetable +sellers. They numbered nearly 13,000 persons in the Central Provinces +and Berar in 1911, and are, as might be expected, principally returned +from the Districts with a considerable urban population, Amraoti, +Jubbulpore, Nagpur and Saugor. The name is derived from the Sanskrit +Khattika, [498] a butcher or hunter. In northern India Mr. Crooke +states that the caste are engaged in keeping and selling pigs and +retailing vegetables and fruits, and does not specially mention that +they slaughter animals, though in Agra one of their subcastes is named +Buchar, a corruption of the English word butcher. In the Punjab Sir +D. Ibbetson [499] says of them that, "They form a connecting link +between the scavengers and the leather-workers, though they occupy +a social position distinctly inferior to that of the latter. They +are great keepers of pigs and poultry, which a Chamar would not +keep. [500] At the same time many of them tan and dye leather and +indeed are not seldom confused with the Chamrang. The Khatik is +said sometimes to keep sheep and goats and twist their hair into +waist-bands for sale." Sir H. Risley again describes the Khatiks +of Bihar as a cultivating and vegetable-selling caste. [501] The +differences in the principal occupations ascribed to the caste are +thus somewhat remarkable. In the Central Provinces the Khatiks are +primarily slaughterers of sheep and goats and mutton-butchers, though +they also keep pigs, and some of them, who object to this trade, make +their livelihood by selling vegetables. Both in the United Provinces +and Punjab the Khatiks are considered to be connected with the Pasis +and probably an offshoot of that caste. In the Central Provinces they +are said to be an inferior branch of the Gadaria or shepherd caste. The +Gadarias state that their old sheep were formerly allowed to die. Then +they appointed some poor men of the community to kill them and sell +the flesh, dividing the profits with the owner, and thus the Khatik +caste arose. The Khatiks accept cooked food from the Gadarias, but +the latter do not reciprocate. + +The Khatiks are both Hindu and Muhammadan by religion, the latter +being also known as Gai-Khatik or cow-killer; but these may more +suitably be classed with the Kasais or Muhammadan butchers. In the +Maratha Districts the Hindu Khatiks are divided into two subcastes, +the Beraria or those from Berar, and the Jhadi or those of the forest +country of the Wainganga valley. These will take food together, +but do not intermarry. They have the usual set of exogamous clans +or septs, many of which are of a totemistic nature, being named +after plants, animals or natural objects. In Jubbulpore, owing to +their habit of keeping pigs and the dirty state of their dwellings, +one of their divisions is named Lendha, which signifies the excrement +of swine. Here the sept is called ban, while in Wardha it is known as +kul or adnam. Marriage within the sept is forbidden. When arranging a +match they consider it essential that the boy should be taller than +the girl, but do not insist on his being older. A bride-price is +sometimes paid, especially if the parents of the girl are poor, but +the practice is considered derogatory. In such a case the father is +thought to sell his daughter and he is called Bad or Bhand. Marriages +commonly take place on the fifth, seventh or ninth day after the Holi +festival, or on the festival of Badsavitri, the third day of Baisakh +(light fortnight). When the bridegroom leaves the house to set out +for the wedding his mother or aunt waves a pestle and churning-stick +round him, puts a piece of betel-vine in his mouth and gives him +her breast to suck. He then steps on a little earthen lamp-saucer +placed over an egg and breaks them, and leaves the house without +looking back. These rites are common to many castes, but their exact +significance is obscure. The pestle and churning-stick and egg may +perhaps be emblems of fertility. At the wedding the fathers of the +couple split some wood into shreds, and, placing it in a little pit +with cotton, set a light to it. If it is all burnt up the ceremony +has been properly performed, but if any is left, the people laugh +and say that the corpses of the family's ancestors were not wholly +consumed on the pyre. To effect a divorce the husband and wife break +a stick in the presence of the caste panchayat or committee, and if +a divorced woman or one who has deserted her husband marries again, +the first husband has to give a feast to the caste on the tenth +day after the wedding; this is perhaps in the nature of a funeral +feast to signify that she is dead to him. The remarriage of widows +is permitted. A girl who is seduced by a member of the caste, even +though she may be delivered of a child, may be married to him by the +maimed rites used for widows. But she cannot take part in auspicious +ceremonies, and her feet are not washed by married women like those +of a proper bride. Even if a girl be seduced by an outsider, except +a Hindu of the impure castes or a Muhammadan, she may be taken back +into the community and her child will be recognised as a member of +it. But they say that if a Khatik keeps a woman of another caste he +will be excommunicated until he has put her away, and his children +will be known as Akre or bastard Khatiks, these being numerous in +Berar. The caste burn or bury the dead as their means permit, and +on the third day they place on the pyre some sugar, cakes, liquor, +sweets and fruit for the use of the dead man's soul. + +The occupation of the Khatik is of course horrible to Hindu ideas, and +the social position of the caste is very low. In some localities they +are considered impure, and high-caste Hindus who do not eat meat will +wash themselves if forced to touch a Khatik. Elsewhere they rank just +above the impure castes, but do not enter Hindu temples. These Khatiks +slaughter sheep and goats and sell the flesh, but they do not cure +the skins, which are generally exported to Madras. The Hindu Khatiks +often refuse to slaughter animals themselves and employ a Muhammadan +to do so by the rite of halal. The blood is sometimes sold to Gonds, +who cook and eat it mixed with grain. Other members of the caste are +engaged in cultivation, or retail vegetables and grain. + + + + + + +Khatri + + +1. Rajput origin. + +Khatri.--A prominent mercantile caste of the Punjab, whose members +to the number of about 5000 have settled in the Central Provinces +and Berar, being distributed over most Districts. The Khatris claim +to be derived from the Rajput caste, and say that their name is a +corruption of Kshatriya. At the census of 1901 Sir Herbert Risley +approved of their demand on the evidence laid before him by the +leading representatives of the caste. This view is assented to by +Mr. Crooke and Mr. Nesfield. In Gujarat also the caste are known as +Brahma-Kshatris, and their Rajput origin is considered probable, +while their appearance bears out the claim to be derived either +from the Aryans or some later immigrants from Central Asia: "They +are a handsome fair-skinned class, some of them with blue or grey +eyes, in make and appearance like Vanias (Banias), only larger and +more vigorous." [502] Mr. Crooke states that, "their women have a +reputation for their beauty and fair complexion. The proverb runs, +'A Khatri woman would be fair without fine clothes or ornaments,' +and, 'Only an albino is fairer than a Khatri woman.'" [503] Their +legend of origin is as follows: "When Parasurama the Brahman was +slaying the Kshatriyas in revenge for the theft of the sacred cow +Kamdhenu and for the murder of his father, a pregnant Kshatriya woman +took refuge in the hut of a Saraswat Brahman. When Parasurama came +up he asked the Brahman who the woman was, and he said she was his +daughter. Parasurama then told him to eat with her in order to prove +it, and the Brahman ate out of the same leaf-plate as the woman. The +child to whom she subsequently gave birth was the ancestor of the +Khatris, and in memory of this Saraswat Brahmans will eat with Khatris +to the present day." The Saraswat Brahman priests of the Khatris do as +a matter of fact take katcha food or that cooked with water from them, +and smoke from their huqqas, and this is another strong argument in +favour of their origin either from Brahmans or Rajputs. + +The classical account of the Khatris is that given in Sir George +Campbell's Ethnology of India, and it may be reproduced here as in +other descriptions of the caste: + + + + +2. Sir George Campbell's account of the Khatris. + +"Trade is their main occupation; but in fact they have broader and more +distinguishing features. Besides monopolising the trade of the Punjab +and the greater part of Afghanistan, and doing a good deal beyond those +limits, they are in the Punjab the chief civil administrators, and have +almost all literate work in their hands. So far as the Sikhs have a +priesthood, they are, moreover, the priests or gurus of the Sikhs. Both +Nanak and Govind were, and the Sodis and Bedis of the present day are, +Khatris. Thus then they are in fact in the Punjab, so far as a more +energetic race will permit them, all that Mahratta Brahmins are in +the Mahratta country, besides engrossing the trade which the Mahratta +Brahmins have not. They are not usually military in their character, +but are quite capable of using the sword when necessary. Diwan Sawan +Mal, Governor of Multan, and his notorious successor Mulraj, and very +many of Ranjit Singh's chief functionaries were Khatris. + +"Even under Mahomedan rulers in the west they have risen to high +administrative posts. There is a record of a Khatri Diwan of Badakshan +or Kurdaz; and, I believe, of a Khatri Governor of Peshawar under the +Afghans. The Emperor Akbar's famous minister, Todarmal, was a Khatri; +and a relative of that man of undoubted energy, the great commissariat +contractor of Agra, Joti Pershad, lately informed me that he also +is a Khatri. Altogether, there can be no doubt that these Khatris +are one of the most acute, energetic and remarkable races in India, +though in fact, except locally in the Punjab, they are not much known +to Europeans. The Khatris are staunch Hindus, and it is somewhat +singular that, while giving a religion and priests to the Sikhs, +they themselves are comparatively seldom Sikhs. The Khatris are a +very fine, fair, handsome race, and, as may be gathered from what I +have already said, they are very generally educated. + +"There is a large subordinate class of Khatris, somewhat lower, but of +equal mercantile energy, called Rors or Roras. The proper Khatris of +higher grade will often deny all connection with them, or at least only +admit that they have some sort of bastard kindred with Khatris, but +I think there can be no doubt that they are ethnologically the same, +and they are certainly mixed up with Khatris in their avocations. I +shall treat the whole kindred as generically Khatris. + +"Speaking of the Khatris then thus broadly, they have, as I have +said, the whole trade of the Punjab and of most of Afghanistan. No +village can get on without the Khatri who keeps the accounts, does +the banking business, and buys and sells the grain. They seem, too, +to get on with the people better than most traders and usurers of this +kind. In Afghanistan, among a rough and alien people, the Khatris are +as a rule confined to the position of humble dealers, shopkeepers +and moneylenders; but in that capacity the Pathans seem to look on +them as a kind of valuable animal, and a Pathan will steal another +man's Khatri, not only for the sake of ransom, as is frequently done +on the frontier of Peshawar and Hazara, but also as he might steal a +milch-cow, or as Jews might, I dare say, be carried off in the Middle +Ages with a view to render them profitable. + +"I do not know the exact limits of Khatri occupation to the West, +but certainly in all Eastern Afghanistan they seem to be just as much +a part of the established community as they are in the Punjab. They +find their way far into Central Asia, but the further they get the +more depressed and humiliating is their position. In Turkistan, +Vambéry speaks of them with great contempt, as yellow-faced Hindus +of a cowardly and sneaking character. Under Turcoman rule they +could hardly be otherwise. They are the only Hindus known in Central +Asia. In the Punjab they are so numerous that they cannot all be rich +and mercantile; and many of them hold land, cultivate, take service, +and follow various avocations." + + + + +3. Higher and lower groups. + +The Khatris have a very complicated system of subdivisions, which it +is not necessary to detail here in view of their small strength in +the Province. As a rule they marry only one wife, though a second +may be taken for the purpose of getting offspring. But parents +are very reluctant to give their daughters to a man who is already +married. The remarriage of widows is forbidden and divorce also is +not recognised, but an unfaithful wife may be turned out of the house +and expelled from the caste. Though they practise monogamy, however, +the Khatris place no restrictions on the keeping of concubines, and +from the offspring of such women inferior branches of the caste have +grown up. In Gujarat these are known as the Dasa and Pancha groups, +and they may not eat or intermarry with proper Khatris. [504] The +name Khatri seems there to be restricted to these inferior groups, +while the caste proper is called Brahma-Kshatri. There is also a +marked distinction in their occupation, for, while the Brahma-Kshatris +are hereditary District officials, pleaders, bankers and Government +servants, the Khatris are engaged in weaving, and formerly prepared +the fine cotton cloth of Surat and Broach, while they also make gold +and silver thread, and the lace used for embroidery. [505] As a class +they are said to be thriftless and idle, and at least the Khatris of +Surat to be excessively fond of strong drink. The Khatris of Nimar in +the Central Provinces are also weavers, and it seems not unlikely that +they may be a branch of these Gujarat Khatris of the inferior class, +and that the well-known gold and silver lace and embroidery industry +of Burhanpur may have been introduced by them from Surat. The Khatris +of Narsinghpur are dyers, and may not improbably be connected with +the Nimar weavers. The other Khatris scattered here and there over +the Provinces may belong to the higher branch of the caste. + + + + +4. Marriage and funeral customs. + +In conclusion some extracts may be given from the interesting +account of the marriage and funeral customs of the Brahma-Kshatris in +Gujarat: [506] "On the wedding-day shortly before the marriage hour +the bridegroom, his face covered with flower-garlands and wearing a +long tunic and a yellow silk waistcloth, escorted by the women of his +family, goes to the bride's house on horseback in procession.... Before +the bridegroom's party arrive the bride, dressed in a head-cloth, +bodice, a red robe, and loose yellow Muhammadan trousers, is seated +in a closed palanquin or balai set in front of the house. The +bridegroom on dismounting walks seven times round the palanquin, +the bride's brother at each turn giving him a cut with an oleander +twig, and the women of the family throwing showers of cake from the +windows. He retires, and while mounting his horse, and before he is in +the saddle, the bride's father comes out, and, giving him a present, +leads him into the marriage-hall.... The girl keeps her eyes closed +throughout the whole day, not opening them until the bridegroom is +ushered into the marriage-booth, so that the first object she sees is +her intended husband. On the first Monday, Thursday or Friday after +the marriage the bride is hid either in her own or in a neighbour's +house. The bridegroom comes in state, and with the point of his sword +touches the outer doors of seven houses, and then begins to search +for his wife. The time is one of much fun and merriment, the women +of the house bantering and taunting the bridegroom, especially when +he is long in finding his wife's hiding-place. When she is found the +bridegroom leads the bride to the marriage-hall, and they sit there +combing each other's hair." + +In connection with their funeral ceremonies Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam +gives the following particulars of the custom of beating the breasts: +[507] "Contrary to the Gujarat practice of beating only the breast, +the Brahma-Kshatri women beat the forehead, breast and knees. For +thirteen days after a death women weep and beat their breasts thrice +a day, at morning, noon and evening. Afterwards they weep and beat +their breasts every evening till a year has passed, not even excepting +Sundays, Tuesdays or Hindu holidays. During this year of mourning the +female relations of the deceased used to eat nothing but millet-bread +and pulse; but this custom is gradually being given up." + + + + + + +Khojah + + +Khojah. [508]--A small Muhammadan sect of traders belonging to +Gujarat, who retain some Hindu practices. They reside in Wardha, +Nagpur and the Berar Districts, and numbered about 500 persons in +1911 as against 300 in 1901. The Khojahs are Muhammadans of the Shia +sect, and their ancestors were converted Hindus of the Lohana trading +caste of Sind, who are probably akin to the Khatris. As shown in the +article on Cutchi, the Cutchi or Meman traders are also converted +Lohanas. The name Khojah is a corruption of the Turkish Khwajah, +Lord, and this is supposed to be a Muhammadan equivalent for the +title Thakur or Thakkar applied to the Lohanas. The Khojahs belong +to the Nazarian branch of the Egyptian Ismailia sect, and the founder +of this sect in Persia was Hasan Sabah, who lived at the beginning of +the eleventh century and founded the order of the Fidawis or devotees, +who were the Assassins of the Crusades. Hasan subsequently threw off +his allegiance to the Egyptian Caliph and made himself the head of his +own sect with the title of Shaikh-ul-Jabal or Lord. He was known to the +Crusaders as the 'Old Man of the Mountain.' His third successor Hasan +(A.D. 1163) declared himself to be the unrevealed Imam and preached +that no action of a believer in him could be a sin. It is through +this Hasan that His Highness the Aga Khan traces his descent from +Ali. Subsequently emissaries of the sect came to India, and one Pir +Sadr-ud-din converted the Lohanas. According to one account this man +was a Hindu slave of Imam Hasan. Sadr-ud-din preached that his master +Hasan was the Nishkalanki or tenth incarnation of Vishnu. The Adam +of the Semitic story of the creation was identified with the Hindu +deity Vishnu, the Prophet Muhammad with Siva, and the first five +Imams of Ismailia with the five Pandava brothers. By this means the +new faith was made more acceptable to the Lohanas. In 1845 Aga Shah +Hasan Ali, the Ismailia unrevealed Imam, came and settled in India, +and his successor is His Highness the Aga Khan. + +The Khojahs retain some Hindu customs. Boys have their ears bored and +a lock of hair is left on a child's head to be shaved and offered at +some shrine. Circumcision and the wearing of a beard are optional. They +do not have mosques, but meet to pray at a lodge called the Jama'at +Khana. They repeat the names of their Pirs or saints on a rosary +made of 101 beads of clay from Karbala, the scene of the death of +Hasan and Husain. At their marriages, deaths and on every new-moon +day, contributions are levied which are sent to His Highness the Aga +Khan. "A remarkable feature at a Khojah's death," Mr. Faridi states, +"is the samarchhanta or Holy Drop. The Jama'at officer asks the dying +Khojah whether he wishes for the Holy Drop, and if the latter agrees +he must bequeath Rs. 5 to Rs. 500 to the Jama'at. The officer dilutes +a cake of Karbala clay in water and moistens the lips of the dying man +with it, sprinkling the remainder over his face, neck and chest. The +touch of the Holy Drop is believed to save the departing soul from +the temptation of the Arch-Fiend, and to remove the death-agony as +completely as among the Sunnis does the recital at a death-bed of the +chapter of the Koran known as the Surah-i-Ya-sin. If the dead man is +old and grey-haired the hair after death is dyed with henna. A garland +of cakes of Karbala clay is tied round the neck of the corpse. If the +body is to be buried locally two small circular patches of silk cloth +cut from the covering of Husain's tomb, called chashmah or spectacles, +are laid over the eyes. Those Khojahs who can afford it have their +bodies placed in air-tight coffins and transported to the field of +Karbala in Persia to be buried there. The bodies are taken by steamer +to Baghdad, and thence by camel to Karbala. + +"The Khojahs are keen and enterprising traders, and are great +travellers by land and sea, visiting and settling in distant countries +for purposes of trade. They have business connections with Ceylon, +Burma, Singapore, China and Japan, and with ports of the Persian Gulf, +Arabia and East Africa. Khojah boys go as apprentices in foreign +Khojah firms on salaries of Rs. 200 to Rs. 2000 a year with board +and lodging." + + + + + + +KHOND [509] + + +[The principal authorities on the Khonds are Sir H. Risley's Tribes and +Castes of Bengal, Major-General Campbell's Wild Tribes of Khondistan, +and Major MacPherson's Report on the Khonds of the Districts of Ganjam +and Cuttack (Reprint, Madras Scottish United Press, 1863). When +the inquiries leading up to these volumes were undertaken, the +Central Provinces contained a large body of the tribe, but the bulk +of these have passed to Bihar and Orissa with the transfer of the +Kalahandi and Patna States and the Sambalpur District. Nevertheless, +as information of interest had been collected, it has been thought +desirable to reproduce it, and Sir James Frazer's description of +the human sacrifices formerly in vogue has been added. Much of +the original information contained in this article was furnished +by Mr. Panda Baijnath, Extra Assistant Commissioner, when Diwan +of Patna State. Papers were also contributed by Rai Sahib Dinbandhu +Patnaik, Diwan of Sonpur, Mr. Mian Bhai, Extra Assistant Commissioner, +Sambalpur, and Mr. Charu Chandra Ghose, Deputy Inspector of Schools, +Kalahandi.] + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Traditions of the tribe. + 2. Tribal divisions. + 3. Exogamous septs. + 4. Marriage. + 5. Customs at birth. + 6. Disposal of the dead. + 7. Occupation. + 8. A Khond combat. + 9. Social customs. + 10. Festivals. + 11. Religion. + 12. Human sacrifice. + 13. Last human sacrifices. + 14. Khond rising in 1882. + 15. Language. + + + + +1. Traditions of the tribe. + +Khond, Kandh.1--A Dravidian tribe found in the Uriya-speaking tract of +the Sambalpur District and the adjoining Feudatory States of Patna and +Kalahandi, which up to 1905 were included in the Central Provinces, +but now belong to Bihar and Orissa. The Province formerly contained +168,000 Khonds, but the number has been reduced to about 10,000, +residing mainly in the Khariar zamindari to the south-east of the +Raipur District and the Sarangarh State. The tract inhabited by the +Khonds was known generally as the Kondhan. The tribe call themselves +Kuiloka, or Kuienju, which may possibly be derived from ko or ku, +a Telugu word for a mountain. [510] Their own traditions as to +their origin are of little historical value, but they were almost +certainly at one time the rulers of the country in which they now +reside. It was the custom until recently for the Raja of Kalahandi +to sit on the lap of a Khond on his accession while he received the +oaths of fealty. The man who held the Raja was the eldest member of +a particular family, residing in the village of Gugsai Patna, and +had the title of Patnaji. The coronation of a new Raja took place in +this village, to which all the chiefs repaired. The Patnaji would be +seated on a large rock, richly dressed, with a cloth over his knees +on which the Raja sat. The Diwan or minister then tied the turban of +state on the Raja's head, while all the other chiefs present held the +ends of the cloth. The ceremony fell into abeyance when Raghu Kesari +Deo was made Raja on the deposition of his predecessor for misconduct, +as the Patnaji refused to install a second Raja, while one previously +consecrated by him was still living. The Raja was also accustomed +to marry a Khond girl as one of his wives, though latterly he did +not allow her to live in the palace. These customs have lately been +abandoned; they may probably be interpreted as a recognition that the +Rajas of Kalahandi derived their rights from the Khonds. Many of the +zamindari estates of Kalahandi and Sonpur are still held by members +of the tribe. + + + + +2. Tribal divisions. + +There is no strict endogamy within the Khond tribe. It has two +main divisions: the Kutia Khonds who are hillmen and retain their +primitive tribal customs, and the plain-dwelling Khonds who have +acquired a tincture of Hinduism. The Kutia or hill Khonds are said to +be so called because they break the skulls of animals when they kill +them for food; the word kutia meaning one who breaks or smashes. The +plain-dwelling Khonds have a number of subdivisions which are supposed +to be endogamous, though the rule is not strictly observed. Among these +the Raj Khonds are the highest, and are usually landed proprietors. A +man, however, is not considered to be a Raj Khond unless he possesses +some land, and if a Raj Khond takes a bride from another group he +descends to it. A similar rule applies among some of the other groups, +a man being relegated to his wife's division when he marries into +one which is lower than his own. The Dal Khonds may probably have +been soldiers, the word dal meaning an army. They are also known as +Adi Kandh or the superior Khonds, and as Balusudia or 'Shaven.' At +present they usually hold the honourable position of village priest, +and have to a certain extent adopted Hindu usages, refusing to eat +fowls or buffaloes, and offering the leaves of the tulsi (basil) to +their deities. The Kandhanas are so called because they grow turmeric, +which is considered rather a low thing to do, and the Pakhia because +they eat the flesh of the por or buffalo. The Gauria are graziers, +and the Nagla or naked ones apparently take their name from their +paucity of clothing. The Utar or Satbhuiyan are a degraded group, +probably of illegitimate descent; for the other Khonds will take +daughters from them, but will not give their daughters to them. + + + + +3. Exogamous septs. + +Traditionally the Khonds have thirty-two exogamous septs, but the +number has now increased. All the members of one sept live in the same +locality about some central village. Thus the Tupa sept are collected +round the village of Teplagarh in the Patna State, the Loa sept round +Sindhekala, the Borga sept round Bangomunda, and so on. The names +of the septs are derived either from the names of villages or from +titles or nicknames. Each sept is further divided into a number of +subsepts whose names are of a totemistic nature, being derived from +animals, plants or natural objects. Instances of these are Bachhas +calf, Chhatra umbrella, Hikoka horse, Kelka the kingfisher, Konjaka +the monkey, Mandinga an earthen pot, and so on. It is a very curious +fact that while the names of the septs appear to belong to the Khond +language, those of the subsepts are all Uriya words, and this affords +some ground for the supposition that they are more recent than the +septs, an opinion to which Sir H. Risley inclines. On the other hand, +the fact that the subsepts have totemistic names appears difficult +of explanation under this hypothesis. Members of the subsept regard +the animal or plant after which it is named as sacred. Those of the +Kadam group will not stand under the tree of that name. Those of +the Narsingha [511] sept will not kill a tiger or eat the meat of +any animal wounded or killed by this animal. The same subsept will +be found in several different septs, and a man may not marry a woman +belonging either to the same sept or subsept as his own. But kinship +through females is disregarded, and he may take his maternal uncle's +daughter to wife, and in Kalahandi is not debarred from wedding his +mother's sister. [512] + + + + +4. Marriage. + +Marriage is adult and a large price, varying from 12 to 20 head of +cattle, was formerly demanded for the bride. This has now, however, +been reduced in some localities to two or three animals and a rupee +each in lieu of the others, or cattle may be entirely dispensed with +and some grain given. If a man cannot afford to purchase a bride he may +serve his father-in-law for seven years as the condition of obtaining +her. A proposal for marriage is made by placing a brass cup and three +arrows at the door of the girl's father. He will remove these once to +show his reluctance, and they will be again replaced. If he removes +them a second time, it signifies his definite refusal of the match, +but if he allows them to remain, the bridegroom's friends go to him +and say, 'We have noticed a beautiful flower in passing through your +village and desire to pluck it.' The wedding procession goes from the +bride's to the bridegroom's house as among the Gonds; this custom, +as remarked by Mr. Bell, is not improbably a survival of marriage +by capture, when the husband carried off his wife and married her +at his own house. At the marriage the bride and bridegroom come out, +each sitting on the shoulders of one of their relatives. The bridegroom +pulls the bride to his side, when a piece of cloth is thrown over them, +and they are tied together with a string of new yarn wound round them +seven times. A cock is sacrificed, and the cheeks of the couple are +singed with burnt bread. They pass the night in a veranda, and next +day are taken to a tank, the bridegroom being armed with a bow and +arrows. He shoots one through each of seven cowdung cakes, the bride +after each shot washing his forehead and giving him a green twig for +a tooth-brush and some sweets. This is symbolical of their future +course of life, when the husband will procure food by hunting, while +the wife will wait on him and prepare his food. Sexual intercourse +before marriage between a man and girl of the tribe is condoned so +long as they are not within the prohibited degrees of relationship, +and in Kalahandi such liaisons are a matter of ordinary occurrence. If +a girl is seduced by one man and subsequently married to another, the +first lover usually pays the husband a sum of seven to twelve rupees +as compensation. In Sambalpur a girl may choose her own husband, and +the couple commonly form an intimacy while engaged in agricultural +work. Such unions are known as Udhlia or 'Love in the fields.' If the +parents raise any objection to the match the couple elope and return +as man and wife, when they have to give a feast to the caste, and if +the girl was previously betrothed to another man the husband must pay +him compensation. In the last case the union is called Paisa moli or +marriage by purchase. A trace of fraternal polyandry survives in the +custom by which the younger brothers are allowed access to the elder +brother's wife till the time of their own marriage. Widow-marriage +and divorce are recognised. + + + + +5. Customs at birth. + +For one day after a child has been born the mother is allowed no +food. On the sixth day she herself shaves the child's head and bites +his nails short with her teeth, after which she takes a bow and arrows +and stands with the child facing successively to the four points of the +compass. The idea of this is to make the child a skilful hunter when +he grows up. Children are named in their fifth or sixth year. Names +are sometimes given after some personal peculiarity, as Lammudia, +long-headed, or Khanja, one having six fingers; or after some +circumstance of the birth, as Ghosian, in compliment to the Ghasia +(grass-cutter) woman who acts as midwife; Jugi, because some holy +mendicant (Yogi) was halting in the village when the child was born; +or a child may be named after the day of the week or month on which +it was born. The tribe believe that the souls of the departed are born +again as children, and boys have on occasion been named Majhian Budhi +or the old head-woman, whom they suppose to have been born again +with a change of sex. Major Macpherson observed the same belief: +[513] "To determine the best name for the child, the priest drops +grains of rice into a cup of water, naming with each grain a deceased +ancestor. He pronounces, from the movements of the seed in the fluid, +and from observations made on the person of the infant, which of his +progenitors has reappeared in him, and the child generally, but not +uniformly, receives the name of that ancestor." When the children are +named, they are made to ride a goat or a pig, as a mark of respect, +it is said, to the ancestor who has been reborn in them. Names usually +recur after the third generation. + + + + +6. Disposal of the dead. + +The dead are buried as a rule, but the practice of cremating the bodies +of adults is increasing. When a body is buried a rupee or a copper coin +is tied in the sheet, so that the deceased may not go penniless to the +other world. Sometimes the dead man's clothes and bows and arrows are +buried with him. On the tenth day the soul is brought back. Outside +the village, where two roads meet, rice is offered to a cock, and +if it eats, this is a sign that the soul has come. The soul is then +asked to ride on a bowstick covered with cloth, and is brought to the +house and placed in a corner with those of other relatives. The souls +are fed annually with rice on the harvest and Dasahra festivals. In +Sambalpur a ball of powdered rice is placed under a tree with a lamp +near it, and the first insect that settles on the ball is taken to be +the soul, and is brought home and worshipped. The souls of infants +who die before the umbilical cord has dropped are not brought back, +because they are considered to have scarcely come into existence; +and Sir E. Gait records that one of the causes of female infanticide +was the belief that the souls of girl-children thus killed would not +be born again, and hence the number of future female births would +decrease. This belief partially conflicts with that of the change of +sex on rebirth mentioned above; but the two might very well exist +together. The souls of women who die during pregnancy or after a +miscarriage, or during the monthly period of impurity are also not +brought back, no doubt because they are held to be malignant spirits. + + + + +7. Occupation. + +The Khond traditionally despises all occupations except those of +husbandry, hunting and war. "In Orissa," Sir H. Risky states, "they +claim full rights of property in the soil in virtue of having cleared +the jungle and prepared the land for cultivation. In some villages +individual ownership is unknown, and the land is cultivated on a +system of temporary occupation subject to periodical redistribution +under the orders of the headman or malik." Like the other forest +tribes they are improvident and fond of drink. + +Macpherson [514] described the Khonds as faithful to friends, devoted +to their chiefs, resolute, brave, hospitable and laborious; but these +high qualities meet with no recognition among the Uriya Hindus, +who regard their stupidity as the salient attribute of the Khonds +and have various tales in derision of them, like those told of the +weavers. They consider the Khonds as only a little superior to the +impure Doms (musicians and sweepers), and say, 'Kandh ghare Domna +Mantri,' or 'In a Kandh house the Dom is Prime Minister.' This is +paralleled by the similar relation between the Gonds and Pardhans. The +arms of the Khonds were a light, long-handled sword with a blade very +curiously carved, the bow and arrow and the sling--no shields being +used. The axe also was used with both hands, to strike and guard, its +handle being partly defended by brass plates and wire for the latter +purpose. The following description of a battle between rival Khond +clans was recorded by Major Macpherson as having been given to him +by an eye-witness, and may be reproduced for its intrinsic interest; +the fight was between the hostile tribes of Bora Muta and Bora Des +in the Gumsur territory: + + + + +8. A Khond combat. + +"At about 12 o'clock in the day the people of Bora Des began to +advance in a mass across the Salki river, the boundary between the +Districts, into the plain of Kurmingia, where a much smaller force +was arrayed to oppose them. The combatants were protected from the +neck to the loins by skins, and cloth was wound round their legs down +to the heel, but the arms were quite bare. Round the heads of many, +too, cloth was wound, and for distinction the people of Bora Muta +wore peacock's feathers in their hair, while those of Bora Des had +cock's tail plumes. They advanced with horns blowing, and the gongs +beat when they passed a village. The women followed behind carrying +pots of water and food for refreshments, and the old men who were +past bearing arms were there, giving advice and encouragement. As the +adverse parties approached, showers of stones, handed by the women, +flew from slings from either side, and when they came within range +arrows came in flights and many fell back wounded. At length single +combats sprang up betwixt individuals who advanced before the rest, +and when the first man fell all rushed to dip their axes in his blood, +and hacked the body to pieces. The first man who himself unwounded +slew his opponent, struck off the latter's right arm and rushed with +it to the priest in the rear, who bore it off as an offering to Loha +Pennu (the Iron God or the God of Arms) in his grove. The right arms +of the rest who fell were cut off in like manner and heaped in the +rear beside the women, and to them the wounded were carried for care, +and the fatigued men constantly retired for water. The conflict was +at length general. All were engaged hand-to-hand, and now fought +fiercely, now paused by common consent for a moment's breathing. In +the end the men of Bora Des, although superior in numbers, began to +give way, and before four o'clock they were driven across the Salki, +leaving sixty men dead on the field, while the killed on the side of +the Bora Muta did not exceed thirty. And from the entire ignorance +of the Khonds of the simplest healing processes, at least an equal +number of the wounded died after the battle. The right hands of the +slain were hung up by both parties on the trees of the villages and +the dead were carried off to be burned. The people of Bora Des the +next morning flung a piece of bloody cloth on the field of battle, +a challenge to renew the conflict which was quickly accepted, and so +the contest was kept up for three days." The above account could, +of course, find no place in a description of the Khonds of this +generation, but has been thought worthy of quotation, as detailed +descriptions of the manner of fighting of these tribes, now weaned +from war by the British Government, are so rarely to be found. + + + + +9. Social customs. + +The Khonds will admit into the community a male orphan child of any +superior caste, including the Binjhwars and Gonds. A virgin of any age +of one of these castes will also be admitted. A Gond man who takes +a Khond girl to wife can become a Khond by giving a feast. As might +be expected the tribe are closely connected with the Gaurs or Uriya +shepherds, whose business leads them to frequent the forests. Either a +man or woman of the Gaurs can be taken into the community on marrying +a Khond, and if a Khond girl marries a Gaur her children, though +not herself, can become members of that caste. The Khonds will eat +all kinds of animals, including rats, snakes and lizards, but with +the exception of the Kutia Khonds they have now given up beef. In +Kalahandi social delinquencies are punished by a fine of so many +field-mice, which the Khond considers a great delicacy. The catching +of twenty to forty field-mice to liquidate the fine imposes on the +culprit a large amount of trouble and labour, and when his task is +completed his friends and neighbours fry the mice and have a feast with +plenty of liquor, but he himself is not allowed to participate. Khond +women are profusely tattooed with figures of trees, flowers, fishes, +crocodiles, lizards and scorpions on the calf of the leg and the arms, +hands and chest, but seldom on the face. This is done for purposes +of ornament. Husband and wife do not mention each other's names, +and a woman may not speak the names of any of her husband's younger +brothers, as, if left a widow, she might subsequently have to marry +one of them. A paternal or maternal aunt may not name her nephew, +nor a man his younger brother's wife. + + + + +10. Festivals. + +The tribe have three principal festivals, known as the Semi Jatra, +the Mahul Jatra and the Chawal Dhuba Jatra. The Semi Jatra is held +on the tenth day of the waning moon of Aghan (November) when the new +semi or country beans are roasted, a goat or fowl is sacrificed, +and some milk or water is offered to the earth god. From this day +the tribe commence eating the new crop of beans. Similarly the Mahul +Jatra is held on the tenth of the waning moon of Chait (March), and +until this date a Khond may eat boiled mahua flowers, but not roasted +ones. The principal festival is the Dasahra or Chawal Dhuba (boiled +rice) on the tenth day of the waning moon of Kunwar (September), +which, in the case of the Khonds, marks the rice-harvest. The new +rice is washed and boiled and offered to the earth god with the same +accompaniment as in the case of the Semi Jatra, and until this date the +Khond may not clean the new rice by washing it before being boiled, +though he apparently may partake of it so long as it is not washed +or cleaned, this rule and that regarding the mahua flowers being so +made as concessions to convenience. + + + + +11. Religion. + +The Khond pantheon consists of eighty-four gods, of whom Dharni Deota, +the earth god, is the chief. In former times the earth goddess was +apparently female and was known as Tari Pennu or Bera Pennu. To +her were offered the terrible human sacrifices presently to be +described. There is nothing surprising in the change of sex of the +divine being, for which parallels are forthcoming. Thus in Chhattisgarh +the deity of the earth, who also received human sacrifices, is either +Thakur Deo, a god, or Thakurani Mai, a goddess. Deota is an Aryan term, +and the proper Khond name for a god is Pennu. The earth god is usually +accompanied by Bhatbarsi Deota, the god of hunting. Dharni Deota +is represented by a rectangular peg of wood driven into the ground, +while Bhatbarsi has a place at his feet in the shape of a piece of +conglomerate stone covered with circular granules. Once in four or +five years a buffalo is offered to the earth god, in lieu of the human +sacrifice which was formerly in vogue. The animal is predestined for +sacrifice from its birth, and is allowed to wander loose and graze on +the crops at its will. The stone representing Bhatbarsi is examined +periodically, and when the granules on it appear to have increased, +it is decided that the time has come for the sacrifice. In Kalahandi +a lamb is sacrificed every year, and strips of its flesh distributed +to all the villagers, who bury it in their fields as a divine agent +of fertilisation, in the same way as the flesh of the human victim +was formerly buried. The Khond worships his bow and arrows before +he goes out hunting, and believes that every hill and valley has its +separate deity, who must be propitiated with the promise of a sacrifice +before his territory is entered, or he will hide the animals within +it from the hunter, and enable them to escape when wounded. These +deities are closely related to each other, and it is important when +arranging for an expedition to know the connection between them all; +this information can be obtained from any one on whom the divine +afflatus from time to time descends. + + + + +12. Human sacrifice. + +The following account of the well-known system of human sacrifice, +formerly in vogue among the Khonds, is contained in Sir James Frazer's +Golden Bough, having been compiled by him from the accounts of Major +Macpherson and Major-General John Campbell, two of the officers +deputed to suppress it: + +"The best known case of human sacrifices systematically offered +to ensure good crops is supplied by the Khonds or Kandhs, another +Dravidian race in Bengal. Our knowledge of them is derived from the +accounts written by British officers who, forty or fifty years ago, +were engaged in putting them down. The sacrifices were offered to the +Earth-Goddess, Tari Pennu or Bera Pennu, and were believed to ensure +good crops and immunity from all disease and accidents. In particular +they were considered necessary in the cultivation of turmeric, the +Khonds arguing that the turmeric could not have a deep red colour +without the shedding of blood. The victim or Meriah was acceptable +to the goddess only if he had been purchased, or had been born a +victim--that is the son of a victim father--or had been devoted as +a child by his father or guardian. Khonds in distress often sold +their children for victims, 'considering the beatification of their +souls certain, and their death, for the benefit of mankind, the +most honourable possible.' A man of the Panua (Pan) tribe was once +seen to load a Khond with curses, and finally to spit in his face, +because the Khond had sold for a victim his own child, whom the Panua +had wished to marry. A party of Khonds, who saw this, immediately +pressed forward to comfort the seller of his child, saying, 'Your +child has died that all the world may live, and the Earth-Goddess +herself will wipe that spittle from your face.' The victims were +often kept for years before they were sacrificed. Being regarded as +consecrated beings, they were treated with extreme affection, mingled +with deference, and were welcomed wherever they went. A Meriah youth, +on attaining maturity, was generally given a wife, who was herself +usually a Meriah or victim, and with her he received a portion of land +and farm-stock. Their offspring were also victims. Human sacrifices +were offered to the Earth-Goddess by tribes, branches of tribes, +or villages, both at periodical festivals and on extraordinary +occasions. The periodical sacrifices were generally so arranged by +tribes and divisions of tribes that each head of a family was enabled, +at least once a year, to procure a shred of flesh for his fields, +generally about the time when his chief crop was laid down. The mode +of performing these tribal sacrifices was as follows. Ten or twelve +days before the sacrifice, the victim was devoted by cutting off his +hair, which, until then, had been kept unshorn. Crowds of men and +women assembled to witness the sacrifice; none might be excluded, +since the sacrifice was declared to be for all mankind. It was +preceded by several days of wild revelry and gross debauchery. On +the day before the sacrifice the victim, dressed in a new garment, +was led forth from the village in solemn procession, with music and +dancing, to the Meriah grove, a clump of high forest trees standing a +little way from the village and untouched by the axe. Here they tied +him to a post, which was sometimes placed between two plants of the +sankissar shrub. He was then anointed with oil, ghee and turmeric, +and adorned with flowers; and 'a species of reverence, which it is +not easy to distinguish from adoration,' was paid to him throughout +the day. A great struggle now arose to obtain the smallest relic +from his person; a particle of the turmeric paste with which he was +smeared, or a drop of his spittle, was esteemed of sovereign virtue, +especially by the women. The crowd danced round the post to music, +and addressing the Earth said, 'O God, we offer this sacrifice to you; +give us good crops, seasons, and health.' + +"On the last morning the orgies, which had been scarcely interrupted +during the night, were resumed and continued till noon, when they +ceased, and the assembly proceeded to consummate the sacrifice. The +victim was again anointed with oil, and each person touched the +anointed part, and wiped the oil on his own head. In some places they +took the victim in procession round the village, from door to door, +where some plucked hair from his head, and others begged for a drop of +his spittle, with which they anointed their heads. As the victim might +not be bound nor make any show of resistance, the bones of his arms +and, if necessary, his legs were broken; but often this precaution +was rendered unnecessary by stupefying him with opium. The mode of +putting him to death varied in different places. One of the commonest +modes seems to have been strangulation, or squeezing to death. The +branch of a green tree was cleft several feet down the middle; the +victim's neck (in other places, his chest) was inserted in the cleft, +which the priest, aided by his assistants, strove with all his force to +close. Then he wounded the victim slightly with his axe, whereupon the +crowd rushed at the wretch and cut the flesh from the bones, leaving +the head and bowels untouched. Sometimes he was cut up alive. In Chinna +Kimedy he was dragged along the fields, surrounded by the crowd, who, +avoiding his head and intestines, hacked the flesh from his body with +their knives till he died. Another very common mode of sacrifice in the +same district was to fasten the victim to the proboscis of a wooden +elephant, which revolved on a stout post, and, as it whirled round, +the crowd cut the flesh from the victim while life remained. In some +villages Major Campbell found as many as fourteen of these wooden +elephants, which had been used at sacrifices. [515] In one district +the victim was put to death slowly by fire. A low stage was formed, +sloping on either side like a roof; upon it they laid the victim, +his limbs wound round with cords to confine his struggles. Fires were +then lighted and hot brands applied, to make him roll up and down the +slopes of the stage as long as possible; for the more tears he shed +the more abundant would be the supply of rain. Next day the body was +cut to pieces. + +"The flesh cut from the victim was instantly taken home by the persons +who had been deputed by each village to bring it. To secure its rapid +arrival it was sometimes forwarded by relays of men, and conveyed with +postal fleetness fifty or sixty miles. In each village all who stayed +at home fasted rigidly until the flesh arrived. The bearer deposited it +in the place of public assembly, where it was received by the priest +and the heads of families. The priest divided it into two portions, +one of which he offered to the Earth-Goddess by burying it in a hole +in the ground with his back turned, and without looking. Then each +man added a little earth to bury it, and the priest poured water on +the spot from a hill gourd. The other portion of flesh he divided +into as many shares as there were heads of houses present. Each head +of a house rolled his shred of flesh in leaves and buried it in his +favourite field, placing it in the earth behind his back without +looking. In some places each man carried his portion of flesh to the +stream which watered his fields, and there hung it on a pole. For +three days thereafter no house was swept; and, in one district, strict +silence was observed, no fire might be given out, no wood cut, and no +strangers received. The remains of the human victim (namely, the head, +bowels and bones) were watched by strong parties the night after the +sacrifice, and next morning they were burned along with a whole sheep, +on a funeral pile. The ashes were scattered over the fields, laid as +paste over the houses and granaries, or mixed with the new corn to +preserve it from insects. Sometimes, however, the head and bones were +buried, not burnt. After the suppression of the human sacrifices, +inferior victims were substituted in some places; for instance, in +the capital of Chinna Kimedy a goat took the place of a human victim. + +"In these Khond sacrifices the Meriahs are represented by our +authorities as victims offered to propitiate the Earth-Goddess. But +from the treatment of the victims both before and after death +it appears that the custom cannot be explained as merely a +propitiatory sacrifice. A part of the flesh certainly was offered +to the Earth-Goddess, but the rest of the flesh was buried by each +householder in his fields, and the ashes of the other parts of the +body were scattered over the fields, laid as paste on the granaries, +or mixed with the new corn. These latter customs imply that to the +body of the Meriah there was ascribed a direct or intrinsic power +of making the crops to grow, quite independent of the indirect +efficacy which it might have as an offering to secure the good-will +of the deity. In other words, the flesh and ashes of the victim were +believed to be endowed with a magical or physical power of fertilising +the land. The same intrinsic power was ascribed to the blood and +tears of the Meriah, his blood causing the redness of the turmeric, +and his tears producing rain; for it can hardly be doubted that, +originally at least, the tears were supposed to bring down the rain, +not merely to prognosticate it. Similarly the custom of pouring water +on the buried flesh of the Meriah was no doubt a rain-charm. Again, +magical power as an attribute of the Meriah appears in the sovereign +virtue believed to reside in anything that came from his person, as his +hair or spittle. The ascription of such power to the Meriah indicates +that he was much more than a mere man sacrificed to propitiate a +deity. Once more, the extreme reverence paid him points to the same +conclusion. Major Campbell speaks of the Meriah as 'being regarded +as something more than mortal,' and Major Macpherson says: 'A species +of reverence, which it is not easy to distinguish from adoration, is +paid to him.' In short, the Meriah appears to have been regarded as +divine. As such, he may originally have represented the Earth-Goddess, +or perhaps a deity of vegetation, though in later times he came to +be regarded rather as a victim offered to a deity than as himself an +incarnate god. This later view of the Meriah as a victim rather than +a divinity may perhaps have received undue emphasis from the European +writers who have described the Khond religion. Habituated to the +later idea of sacrifice as an offering made to a god for the purpose +of conciliating his favour, European observers are apt to interpret +all religious slaughter in this sense, and to suppose that wherever +such slaughter takes place, there must necessarily be a deity to whom +the carnage is believed by the slayers to be acceptable. Thus their +preconceived ideas unconsciously colour and warp their descriptions +of savage rites." [516] + + + + +13. Last human sacrifices. + +In his Ethnographic Notes in Southern India Mr. Thurston states: +[517] "The last recorded Meriah sacrifice in the Ganjam Maliahs +occurred in 1852, and there are still Khonds alive who were present at +it. Twenty-five descendants of persons who were reserved for sacrifice, +but were rescued by Government officers, returned themselves as Meriah +at the Census of 1901. The Khonds have now substituted a buffalo +for a human being. The animal is hewn to pieces while alive, and the +villagers rush home to their villages to bury the flesh in the soil, +and so secure prosperous crops. The sacrifice is not unaccompanied +by risk to the performers, as the buffalo, before dying, frequently +kills one or more of its tormentors. It was stated by the officers +of the Maliah Agency that there was reason to believe that the Raja +of Jaipur (Madras), when he was installed at his father's decease +in 1860-61, sacrificed a girl thirteen years of age at the shrine +of the Goddess Durga in the town of Jaipur. The last attempted human +sacrifice (which was nearly successful) in the Vizagapatam District, +among the Kutia Khonds, was, I believe, in 1880. But the memory of +the abandoned practice is kept green by one of the Khond songs, for a +translation of which we are indebted to Mr. J. E. Friend-Pereira: [518] + + + At the time of the great Kiabon (Campbell) Sahib's coming, the + country was in darkness; it was enveloped in mist. + Having sent paiks to collect the people of the land, they, having + surrounded them, caught the Meriah sacrificers. + Having caught the Meriah sacrificers, they brought them; and + again they went and seized the evil councillors. + Having seen the chains and shackles, the people were afraid; + murder and bloodshed were quelled. + Then the land became beautiful; and a certain Mokodella + (Macpherson) Sahib came. + He destroyed the lairs of the tigers and bears in the hills and + rocks, and taught wisdom to the people. + After the lapse of a month he built bungalows and schools; and + he advised them to learn reading and law. + They learnt wisdom and reading; they acquired silver and gold. Then + all the people became wealthy. + + + + +14. Khond rising in 1882. + +In 1882 an armed rising of the Khonds of the Kalahandi State occurred +as a result of agrarian trouble. The Feudatory Chief had encouraged +the settlement in the State of members of the Kolta caste who are +excellent cultivators and keenly acquisitive of land. They soon got +the Khonds heavily indebted to them for loans of food and seed-grain, +and began to oust them from their villages. The Khonds, recognising +with some justice that this process was likely to end in their total +expropriation from the soil, concerted a conspiracy, and in May 1882 +rose and murdered the Koltas of a number of villages. The signal +for the outbreak was given by passing a knotted string from village +to village; other signals were a bent arrow and a branch of a mahua +tree. When the Khond leaders were assembled an axe was thrown on to +the ground and each of them grasping it in turn swore to join in the +rising and support his fellows. The taint of cruelty in the tribe is +shown by the fact that the Kutia Khonds, on being requested to join +in the rising, replied that if plunder was the only object they would +not do so, but if the Koltas were to be murdered they agreed. Some +of the murdered Koltas were anointed with turmeric and offered at +temples, the Khonds calling them their goats, and in one case a +Kolta is believed to have been made a Meriah sacrifice to the earth +god. The Khonds appeared before the police, who were protecting a +body of refugees at the village of Norla, with the hair and scalps of +their murdered victims tied to their bows. To the Political Officer, +who was sent to suppress the rising, the Khonds complained that the +Koltas had degraded them from the position of lords of the soil to +that of servants, and justified their plundering of the Koltas on the +ground that they were merely taking back the produce of their own land, +which the Koltas had stolen from them. They said that if they were not +to have back their land Government might either drive them out of the +country or exterminate them, and that Koltas and Khonds could no more +live together than tigers and goats. Another grievance was that a new +Raja of Kalahandi had been installed without their consent having been +obtained. The Political Officer, Mr. Berry, hanged seven of the Khond +ringleaders and effected a settlement of their grievances. Peace was +restored and has not since been broken. At a later date in the same +year, 1882, and independently of the rising, a Khond landholder was +convicted and executed for having offered a five-year-old girl as a +Meriah sacrifice. + + + + +15. Language. + +The Khond or Kandh language, called Kui by the Khonds themselves, is +spoken by rather more than half of the total body of the tribe. It is +much more nearly related to Telugu than is Gondi and has no written +character. [519] + + + + + + +Kir + + +1. Origin and Traditions. + +Kir. [520]--A cultivating caste found principally in the Hoshangabad +District. They numbered about 7000 persons in 1911. The Kirs claim +to have come from the Jaipur State, and this is borne out by the +fact that they still retain a dialect of Marwari, though they have +been living among the Hindi-speaking population of Hoshangabad for +several generations. According to their traditions they immigrated +into the Central Provinces when Raja Man was ruling at Jaipur. He was a +contemporary of Akbar's and died in A.D. 1615. [521] This story tallies +with Colonel Sleeman's statement that the first important influx of +Hindus into the Nerbudda valley took place in the time of Akbar. [522] +The Kirs are akin to the Kirars, and at the India Census of 1901 were +amalgamated with them. Like the Kirars they claim to be descended from +the mythical Raja Karan of Jaipur. Their story is that on a summer day +Mahadeo and Parvati created a melon-garden, and Mahadeo made a man +and a woman out of a piece of kusha grass (Eragrostis cynosuroides) +to tend the garden. From these the Kirs are descended. The name may +possibly be a corruption of karar, a river-bank. + + + + +2. Marriage. + +The Kirs have no endogamous divisions. For the purpose of marriage +the caste is divided into 12 1/2 gotras or sections. A man must not +marry within his own gotra or in that to which his mother belonged. The +names of the 12 gotras are as follows: Namchuria, Daima, Bania, Baman, +Nayar, Jat, Huwad, Gadri, Loharia, Hekdya, Mochi and Mali, while the +half-gotra contains the Bhats or genealogists of the caste, who are +not allowed to marry with the other subdivisions and have now formed +one of their own. Of the twelve names of gotras at least seven--Baman +(Brahman), Bania, Mali, Mochi, Gadri (Gadaria), Loharia and Jat--are +derived from other castes, and this fact is sufficient to show that +the origin of the Kirs is occupational, and that they are made up of +recruits from different castes. Infant-marriage is customary, but no +penalty is incurred if a girl remains unmarried after puberty. Only the +poorest members of the caste, however, fail to marry their daughters at +an early age. For the marriage of girls who are left unprovided for, +a subscription is raised among the caste-fellows in accordance with +the usual Hindu practice, the giving of money for this purpose being +considered to be an especially pious act. At the time of the betrothal +a bride-price called chari, varying between Rs. 14 and Rs. 20, is paid +by the boy's father, and the deed of betrothal, called lagan, is then +drawn up in the presence of the caste panchayat who are regaled with +liquor purchased out of the bride-price. A peculiarity of the marriage +ceremony is that the bridegroom is taken to the bride's house riding +on a buffalo. This custom is noteworthy, since other Hindus will +not usually ride on a buffalo, as being the animal on which Yama, +the god of death, rides. After the marriage the bride returns to +the bridegroom's house with the wedding party and stays there for +eight days, during which period she worships the family gods of her +father-in-law's house. The cost of the marriage is usually Rs. 60 +for the boy's party and Rs. 40 for the girl's. But a widower on his +remarriage has to spend double this sum. The ceremonies called Gauna +and Rauna are both performed after the marriage. The former generally +takes place within a year, the bride being dressed in special new +clothes called bes, and sent with ceremony to her husband's house on +an auspicious day fixed by a Brahman. She remains there for two months +and the marriage is consummated, when she returns to her father's +house. Four months afterwards the bridegroom again goes to fetch +her and takes her away permanently, this being the Rauna ceremony. No +social stigma attaches to polygamy, and divorce is allowed on the usual +grounds. Widow-marriage is permitted, the ceremony consisting in giving +new clothes and ornaments to the widow and feeding the Panch for a day. + + + + +3. Religion. + +The caste worships especially Bhairon and Devi, and each section of +it reveres a special incarnation of Devi, and the Bhairon of some +particular village. Thus, for instance, the Namchurias worship the +goddess Parvati and the Bhairon of Jaria Gowara; the Bania, Nayar, +Hekdya and Mochi septs worship Chamunda Mata and the Bhairon of Jaipur, +and so on. Members of the caste get triangular, rectangular or round +pieces of silver impressed with the images of these gods, and wear them +suspended by a thread from their necks. A similar respect is paid to +the Ahut or the spirit of a relative who has met with a violent death +or died without progeny or as a bachelor, the spirits of such persons +being always prone to trouble their living relatives. In order to +appease them songs are sung in their praise on important festivals, +the members of the family staying awake the whole night, and wearing +their images on a silver piece round the neck. When they eat and +drink they first touch the food with the image by way of offering it +to the dead, so that their spirits may be appeased and refrain from +harassing the living. Kirs revere and worship the cow and the pipal +tree. No Kir may sell a cow to a butcher. A man who is about to die +makes a present of a cow to a Brahman or a temple in order that by +catching hold of the tail of this cow he may be able to cross the +horrible river Vaitarni, the Styx of Hinduism, which bars the passage +to the nether regions. The Kirs believe in magic, and some members of +the caste profess to cure snake-bite. The poison-curer, when sent for, +has a small space cleared and plastered with cowdung, on which he draws +lines with wheat flour. A new earthen pot is then brought and placed +over the drawing. On the pot the operator draws a figure of Hanuman +in vermilion, and another figure on the nearest wall facing the pot. A +brass plate is put over the pot and the person who has been bitten by +the snake is brought near it. The snake-charmer then begins to name +various gods and goddesses and to play upon the plate, which emits, it +is said, a very melancholy sound. This performance is called bharni and +is supposed to charm all beings, even gods and serpents. The snake who +has inflicted the bite is then believed to appear in an invisible form +to listen to the bharni, and to enter into the sufferer. The sufferer +is questioned, being supposed to be possessed by the snake, and asked +why the bite was inflicted and how the snake can be appeased. The +replies are thought to be given by the snake, who explains that he +was trampled on, or something to that effect, and asks that milk or +some sweet-smelling article be placed at his hole. The offering is +promised, and the snake is asked not to kill the sufferer, to which he +agrees. The snake usually gives the history of his former human birth, +stating his name and village and the cause of his transmigration into +the body of a serpent. The Kirs believe that human beings who commit +offences are re-born as snakes, and they think that snakes live for +a thousand years. After giving this information the snake departs, +and the person who has been bitten is supposed to recover. The chief +festivals of the Kirs are Diwali and Sitala Athain. They worship +their ancestors at Diwali, making offerings of cooked food, kusha +grass and lamps made of dough at the river-side. The head of the +family sprinkles water and throws the kusha grass into the river, +lights the wicks placed in the lamps and burns a little food in them, +calling on the names of his ancestors. The rest of the food he takes +home and distributes to his caste-fellows. Sitala Athain is observed +on the seventh day of the dark fortnight of Chait. Devi is worshipped +at night with offerings of milk and whey, and on the next day no food +is cooked, the remains of that of the previous day being eaten cold, +and the whole day is devoted to singing the praises of the goddess. + + + + +4. Birth and death ceremonies. + +The Kirs usually burn their dead, but children under twelve are +buried. The ashes and bones are either sent to the Ganges or consigned +to the nearest river or lake. Children have only one name, which is +given on the seventh day after birth by a Brahman. During the birth +ceremony the husband's younger brother catches hold of the skirt of +the child's mother, who on this pays him a few pice and pulls away her +cloth. If this custom has any meaning it is apparently in symbolical +memory of polyandry, the women bribing her husband's younger brother +so that he may not claim the child as his own. + + + + +5. Food, dress and occupation. + +The Kirs do not take food from any caste except the Dadharia Brahmans, +who are Marwaris, and act as their family priests. Brahmans and +other high castes will drink water brought in a brass vessel by +a Kir. The Kirs eat no meat except goats' flesh and fish, but +are much addicted to liquor, which is always conspicuous at their +feasts and festivals. They have a caste panchayat, which deals with +the ordinary offences. Temporary excommunication is removed by the +offender giving three feasts, on which an amount varying with his +social position and means must be expended. The first of these is +eaten on a river-bank, the second in a garden, and the third, which +confers complete readmission to caste intercourse, in the offender's +house. The Kirs live along river-banks, where they grow melons in the +sand and castor and vegetables in alluvial soil. They are considered +very skilful at raising these crops, and fully appreciate the use of +manure. For their own consumption they usually grow bajra and arhar, +being, like all Marwaris, very fond of bajra. The members of the +caste are easily distinguished by their dress, the men wearing a white +mirzai or short coat, a dhoti reaching to the knees, and a head-cloth +placed in a crooked position on the head, so as to leave the hair +of the scalp uncovered. They wear necklaces of black wooden beads, +besides the images of Bhairon and Devi. The women wear Jaipur chunris +or over-cloths and ghanghras or skirts. They have red lac bangles on +their wrists and arms above the elbow, and ornaments called ramjhul on +their legs. The women have a gait like that of men. The speech of the +Kirs sounds like Marwari, and they are peculiar in their preference +for riding on buffaloes. + + + + + + +Kirar + + +1. Origin and traditions. + +Kirar [523] or Kirad.--A cultivating caste found in the Narsinghpur, +Hoshangabad, Betul, Seoni, Chhindwara and Nagpur Districts. They +numbered 48,000 persons in 1911. The Kirars claim to be Dhakar +or bastard Rajputs, and in 1891 more than half of them returned +themselves under this designation. About a thousand persons who were +returned as Dhakar Rajputs from Hoshangabad in 1901 are probably +Kirars. The caste say that they immigrated from Gwalior, and this +statement seems to be correct, as about 66,000 of them are found in +that State. They claim to have left Gwalior as early as Samvat 1525 +or A.D. 1468, when Alru and Dalru, the leaders of the migration into +the Central Provinces, abandoned their native village, Doderi Kheda in +Gwalior, and settled in Chandon, a village in the Sohagpur tahsil of +Hoshangabad. But according to the story related to Mr. (Sir Charles) +Elliott, the migration took place in A.D. 1650 or at the beginning +of Aurangzeb's reign. [524] He quotes the names of the leaders as +Alrawat and Dalrawat, and says that the migration took place from the +Dholpur country, but this is probably a mistake, as none of the caste +are now found in Dholpur. Elliott stated that he could find no traces +of any cultivating caste having settled in Hoshangabad as far back as +Akbar's time, though Sir W. Sleeman was of opinion that the first great +migration into the Nerbudda valley took place in that reign. The truth +is probably that the valley began to be regularly colonised by Hindus +during the years that Aurangzeb spent at Burhanpur and in the Deccan, +and the immigration of the Kirars may most reasonably be attributed to +this period. The Kirars, Gujars, and Raghuvansis apparently entered +the Central Provinces together, and the fact that they still smoke +from the same huqqa and take water from each other's drinking vessels +may be a reminiscence of this bond of fellowship. All these castes +claim, and probably with truth, to be degraded Rajputs. The Kirars' +version is that they took to widow-marriage and were consequently +degraded. According to another story they were driven from their +native place by a Muhammadan invasion. Mr. J. D. Cunningham says that +the word Kirar in Central India literally means dalesmen or foresters, +but during the lapse of centuries has become the name of a caste. [525] +Another derivation is from Kirar, a corn-chandler, an occupation which +they may originally have followed in combination with agriculture. In +the Punjab the name Kirar appears to be given to all the western +or Punjabi traders as distinct from a Bania of Hindustan, and is so +used even in the Kangra hills, but the Arora, who is the trader par +excellence of the south-west of the Punjab, is the person to whom the +term is most commonly applied. [526] As a curiosity of folk-etymology +it may be stated that some derive the caste-name from the fact that a +holy sage's wife, who was about to be delivered of a child, was being +pursued by a Rakshas or demon, and fell over the steep bank (karar) +of a river and was thereupon delivered. The child was consequently +called Karar and became the ancestor of the Kirar caste. The name +may in fact be derived from the habit which the Kirars have in some +localities of cultivating on the banks of rivers, like the Kirs, +who are probably a branch of the same caste. + + + + +2. Marriage. + +In the Central Provinces the Kirars have no regular subcastes. In +Chhindwara a subdivision is in course of formation from +the illegitimate offspring of male Kirars, who are known as +Vidur or Saoneria. The Dhakar Kirars do not marry or eat with +Saonerias. The section-names of the Kirars are not eponymous, as +might be anticipated from their claim to Rajput descent, but they +are generally territorial. Instances are Bankhedi, from Bankhedi, +a village in Hoshangabad; Garhya, from Garha, near Jubbulpore; and +Teharia, from Tehri, a State in Bundelkhand. Other section-names are +Chaudharia, from Chaudhari, headman; Khandait or swordsman, and Banda, +or tailless. Some gotras are derived from the names of other castes or +subcastes, or of Rajput septs, as Loharia, from Lohar (blacksmith); +Chauria, a subcaste of Kurmis; Lilorhia, a subcaste of Gujars; +and Solanki and Chauhan, the names of Rajput septs. These names may +probably be taken to indicate the mixed origin of the caste, and record +the admission of families from other castes. A man cannot marry in +his own gotra nor in the families of his grandmother, paternal uncle +or maternal aunt to three degrees of consanguinity. Boys and girls +are usually married between the ages of five and twelve. Marriages +take place so long as the planet Venus or Shukra is visible at +nights, i.e. between the months of Aghan (November) and Asarh +(June). The proposal for marriage proceeds from the boy's father, +who ascertains the wishes of the girl's father through a barber. If +the latter is willing, the Sagai or betrothal ceremony is performed +at the girl's house. The boy's father proceeds there with a rupee, +two pice and a cocoanut-core, which he presents to the girl, taking +her into his lap. The fathers of the boy and girl embrace, and this +seals the compact of betrothal. The date of the marriage is usually +fixed in consultation with a Brahman, who computes an auspicious +day from the ceremonial names of the couple. But if it is desired +to perform the marriage at once, it may take place on Akhatij, or +the third day of the bright fortnight of Baisakh (April-May), which +is always auspicious. The lagan or paper containing the date of the +marriage is drawn up ceremonially by a Brahman of the girl's house, +and he also writes another, giving the names of the relatives who +are selected to officiate at the ceremony. The first ceremony at the +marriage is that of Mangar Mati, or bringing earth for ovens, the +earth being worshipped by a burnt offering of butter and sugar, and +then dug up by the Sawasin or girl's attendant for the marriage, and +carried home by several women in baskets. This is done in the morning, +and in the evening the boy and girl in their respective houses are +anointed with oil and turmeric, a little being first thrown on the +ground for the family gods. This ceremony is repeated every evening +for some three to fifteen days. The mandwa or marriage-shed is then +erected at both houses, under which the ceremony of tel or touching the +feet, knees, shoulders and forehead of the boy and the girl with oil is +performed. Next day the kham or marriage-post is placed in the mandwa, +a little rice, turmeric and two pice being put in the hole in which +it is fixed, and the shed is covered with leaves. The bridegroom, +clad in a blanket and with date-leaves tied on his head, is taken +out for the binaiki or the marriage procession on horseback. Before +mounting, he bows to Mata or Devi, Mahabir, Hardaul Lala, and Patel +Deo, the spirit of the deceased malguzar of the village. He is taken +round to the houses of friends and relatives, who present him with +a few pice. On his return he bathes and puts on the marriage dress, +which consists of a red or yellow jama or gown, a pair of trousers, +a pagri, a maur or marriage crown and a cloth about his waist. A few +women's ornaments are put on his neck, and he is furnished with a katar +or dagger, and in its absence a nutcracker or knife. He then comes +out of the house and the parchhan ceremony is performed, the boy's +mother putting her nipple in his mouth and giving him a little ghi +and sugar to eat as a symbol of the termination of his infancy. The +Barat or marriage procession then sets out for the girl's village, +being met on its outskirts by the bride's father, and the forehead of +the bridegroom is marked with sandalwood paste. The bridegroom touches +the Mandwa with his hand or throws a bamboo fan over it and returns +with his followers to the Janwasa or lodging given to the Barat. Next +morning the ceremony of Chadhao or decorating the bride is performed, +and the bridegroom's party give her the clothes and ornaments which +they have brought for her, these being first offered to an image of +Ganesh made of cowdung. The bride is then mounted on a horse provided +by the bridegroom's party and goes round to the houses of the friends +of the family, accompanied by music and the women of her party, and +receives small presents. The Bhanwar ceremony is performed during the +night, the couple being seated near the marriage-post with their backs +to the house. A ball of kneaded flour is put in the girl's right hand, +which is then placed on the right hand of the bridegroom, and the +bride's brother pours water over their hands. The bride's maternal +uncle and aunt, with the skirts of their clothes tied together, step +forward and wash the feet of the couple and give them presents. The +other relatives follow suit, and this completes the ceremony of Paon +Pakhurai or Daija, that is giving the dowry. The couple then go round +the marriage-post seven times, the girl leading for the first four +rounds and the boy for the last three. This is the Bhanwar ceremony +or binding portion of the marriage, and the polar star is called +on to make it inviolable. The bridegroom's party are then feasted, +the women meantime singing obscene songs. The bride goes back to the +bridegroom's house and stays there for a few days, after which she +returns to her parents' house and does not leave it again until the +gauna ceremony is performed. On this occasion the bridegroom's party +go to the girl's house with a present of sweets and clothes which +they present to her parents, and they then take away the girl. Even +after this she is again sent back to her parents' house, and the +bridegroom comes a second time to fetch her, on which occasion the +parents of the bride have to make a present in return for the sweets +and clothes previously given to them. The marriage expenses are said +to average between Rs. 50 and Rs. 100, but the extravagance of Kirars +is notorious. Sir R. Craddock says [527] that they are much given to +display, the richer members of the caste being heavily weighted with +jewellery, while a well-to-do Kirar will think nothing of spending +Rs. 1000 on his house, or if he is a landowner Rs. 5000. Extravagance +ruins a great many of the Kirar community. This statement, however, +perhaps applies to those of the Nagpur District rather than to their +comrades of the Nerbudda valley and Satpura highlands. The remarriage +of widows is permitted, and the widow may marry either her husband's +younger brother or any other member of the caste at her choice. The +ceremony takes place at night, the woman being brought to her husband's +house by the back door and given a new cloth and bangles. Turmeric +is then applied to her body, and the clothes of the couple are tied +together. When a bachelor marries a widow, he must first be married to +an akau plant (swallow-wort). Divorce may be effected for infidelity +on the part of the wife or for serious disagreement. A divorced woman +may marry again. Polygamy is allowed, and in Chhindwara is said to +be restricted to three wives, all living within the District, but +elsewhere no such limitation is enforced. A man seldom, however, +takes more than one wife, except for the sake of children. + + + + +3. Religion. + +They worship the ordinary Hindu gods and especially Devi, to whom they +offer female kids. During the months of Baisakh and Jeth (April-June) +those living in Betul and Chhindwara make a pilgrimage to the Nag Deo +or cobra god, who is supposed to have his seat somewhere on the border +of the two Districts. Every third year they also take their cattle +outside the village, and turning their faces in the direction of the +Nag Deo sprinkle a little water and kill goats and fowls. They worship +the Patel Deo or spirit of the deceased malguzar of the village only +on the occasion of marriages. They consider the service of the village +headman to be their traditional occupation besides agriculture, and +they therefore probably pay this special compliment to the spirit of +their employer. They worship their implements of husbandry on some +convenient day, which must be a Wednesday or a Sunday, after they +have sown the spring crops. Those who grow sugarcane offer a goat or +a cocoanut to the crop before it is cut, and a similar offering is +made to the stock of grain after harvest, so that its bulk may not +decrease. They observe the ordinary festivals, and like other Hindus +cease to observe one on which a death has occurred in the family, +until some happy event such as the birth of a child, or even of a +calf, supervenes on the same day. Unmarried children under seven +and persons dying of smallpox, snake-bite or cholera are buried, +and others are either buried or burnt according to the convenience +of the family. Males are placed on the pyre or in the grave on their +faces and females on their backs, with their feet pointing to the +south in each case. In some places the corpse is buried stark naked, +and in others with a piece of cloth wrapped round it, and two pice are +usually placed in the grave to buy the site. When a corpse is burnt +the head is touched with a bamboo before it is laid on the funeral +pyre, by way of breaking it in and allowing the soul to escape if it +has not already done so. For three days the mourners place food, water +and tobacco in cups for the disembodied soul. Mourning is observed for +children for three days and for adults from seven to ten days. During +this period the mourners refrain from luxurious food such as flesh, +turmeric, vegetables, milk and sweets; they do not wear shoes, nor +change their clothes, and males are not shaved until the last day of +mourning. Balls of rice are then offered to the dead, and the caste +people are feasted. Oblations of water are offered to ancestors in +the month of Kunwar (September-October). + + + + +4. Social customs. + +The caste do not admit outsiders. In the matter of food they eat flesh +and fish, but abstain from liquor and from eating fowls, except in +the Maratha country. They will take pakka food or that cooked without +water from Gujars, Raghuvansis and Lodhis. In the Nagpur country, +where the difference between katcha and pakka food is not usually +observed, they will not take it from any but Maratha Brahmans. Abirs +and Dhimars are said to eat with them, and the northern Brahmans will +take water from them. They have a caste panchayat or committee with +a hereditary president called Sethia, whose business it is to eat +first when admitting a person who has been put out of caste. Killing +a cat or a squirrel, selling a cow to a butcher, growing hemp or +selling shoes are offences which entail temporary excommunication +from caste. A woman who commits adultery with a man of another caste +is permanently excluded. The Kirars are tall in stature and well +and stoutly built. They have regular features and are generally of a +fair colour. They are regarded as quarrelsome and untruthful, and as +tyrannical landlords. As agriculturists they are supposed to be of +encroaching tendencies, and the proverbial prayer attributed to them +is, "O God, give me two bullocks, and I shall plough up the common +way." Another proverb quoted in Mr. Standen's Betul Settlement Report, +in illustration of their avarice, is "If you put a rupee between two +Kirars, they become like mast buffaloes in Kunwar." The men always wear +turbans, while the women may be distinguished in the Maratha country +by their adherence to the dress of the northern Districts. Girls are +tattooed on the back of their hands before they begin to live with +their husbands. A woman may not name her husband's elder brother or +even touch his clothes or the vessels in which he has eaten food. They +are not distinguished for cleanliness. + + + + +5. Occupation. + +Agriculture and the service of the village headman are the traditional +occupations of Kirars. In Nagpur they are considered to be very good +cultivators, but they have no special reputation in the northern +Districts. About a thousand of them are landowners, and the large +majority are tenants. They grow garden crops and sugarcane, but +abstain from the cultivation of hemp. + + + + + + +Kohli + + +1. General notice. + +Kohli.--A small caste of cultivators found in the Marathi-speaking +tracts of the Wainganga Valley, comprised in the Bhandara and Chanda +Districts. They numbered about 26,000 persons in 1911. The Kohlis are a +notable caste as being the builders of the great irrigation reservoirs +or tanks, for which the Wainganga Valley is celebrated. The water is +used for irrigating rice and sugarcane, the latter being the favourite +crop of the Kohlis. The origin of the caste is somewhat doubtful. The +name closely resembles that of the Koiri caste of market-gardeners +in northern India; and the terms Kohiri and Kohli are used there +as variations of the caste name Koiri. The caste themselves have a +tradition that they were brought to Bhandara from Benares by one of +the Gond kings of Chanda on his return from a visit to that place; +[528] and the Kohlis of Bhandara say that their first settlement in +the Central Provinces was at Lanji, which lies north of Bhandara in +Balaghat. But on the other hand all that is known of their language, +customs, and sept or family names points to a purely Maratha +origin, the caste being in all these respects closely analogous to +the Kunbis. The Settlement Officer of Chanda, Colonel Lucie Smith, +stated that they thought their forefathers came from the south. They +tie their head-cloths in a similar fashion to the Gandlis, who are +oilmen from the Telugu country. If they belonged to the south of +India they might be an offshoot from the well-known Koli tribe of +Bombay, and this hypothesis appears the more probable. As a general +rule castes from northern India settling in the Maratha country have +not completely abandoned their ancestral language and customs even +after a residence of several centuries. In the case of such castes +as the Panwars and Bhoyars their foreign extraction can be detected +at once; and if the Kohlis had come from Hindustan the rule would +probably hold good with them. On the other hand the Kolis have in +some parts of Bombay now taken to cultivation and closely resemble +the Kunbis. In Satara it is said [529] that they associate and +occasionally eat with Kunbis, and their social and religious customs +resemble those of the Kunbi caste. They are quiet, orderly, settled and +hard-working. Besides fishing they work ferries along the Krishna, are +employed in villages as water-carriers, and grow melons in river-beds +with much skill. The Kolis of Bombay are presumably the same tribe +as the Kols of Chota Nagpur, and they probably migrated to Gujarat +along the Vindhyan plateau, where they are found in considerable +numbers, and over the hills of Rajputana and Central India. The Kols +are one of the most adaptive of all the non-Aryan tribes, and when +they reached the sea they may have become fishermen and boatmen, and +practised these callings also in rivers. From plying on rivers they +might take to cultivating melons and garden-crops on the stretches +of silt left uncovered in their beds in the dry season, which is +the common custom of the boating and fishing castes. And from this, +as seen in Satara, some of them attained to regular cultivation and, +modelling themselves on the Kunbis, came to have nearly the same +status. They may thus have migrated to Chanda and Bhandara with the +Kunbis, as their language and customs would indicate, and retaining +their preference for irrigated and garden-crops have become expert +growers of sugarcane. The description which has been received of +the Kohlis of Bhandara would be rather favourable than otherwise +to the hypothesis of their ultimate origin from the Kol tribe, +allowing for their having acquired the Maratha language and customs +from a lengthened residence in Bombay. It has been mentioned above +that the Kohlis have a legend of their ancestors having come from +Benares, but this story appears to be not infrequently devised as a +means of obtaining increased social estimation, Benares being the +principal centre of orthodox Hinduism. Thus the Dangris, a small +caste of vegetable- and melon-growers who are certainly an offshoot +of the Kunbis, and therefore of Maratha extraction, have the same +story. As regards the tradition of the Bhandara Kohlis that their +first settlement was at Lanji, this may well have been the case even +though they came from the south, as Lanji was an important place and a +centre of administration under the Marathas. It is probable, however, +that they first came to Chanda and from here spread north to Lanji, +as, if they had entered Bhandara through Wardha and Nagpur, some of +them would probably have remained in these Districts. + + + + +2. Marriage and other customs. + +The Kohlis have no subcastes. They are divided into the usual +exogamous groups or septs with the object of preventing marriages +between relations, and these have Marathi names of the territorial or +titular type. Among them may be mentioned Handifode (one who breaks a +cooking vessel), Sahre (from shahar, a town), Nagpure (from Nagpur), +Shende (from shend, cowdung), Parwate (from parwat, mountain), Hatwade +(an obstinate man), Mungus-mare (one who killed a mongoose), Pustode +(one who broke a bullock's tail), and so on. Marriage within the sept +is prohibited. A brother's daughter may be married to his sister's +son, but not vice versa. Girls are usually wedded before arriving +at adolescence, more especially as there is a great demand for +brides. Like other castes engaged in spade cultivation, the Kohlis +marry two or more wives when they can afford it, a wife being a +more willing servant than a hired labourer, apart from the other +advantages. If his wives do not get on together, the Kohli gives +them separate huts in his courtyard, where each lives and cooks her +meals for herself. He will also allot them separate tasks, assigning +to one the care of his household affairs, to another the watching of +his sugarcane plot, and so on. If he does this successfully the wives +are kept well at work and have not time to quarrel. It is said that +whenever a Kohli has a bountiful harvest he looks out for another +wife. This naturally leads to a scarcity of women and the payment of +a substantial bride-price. The recognised amount is Rs. 30, but this +is only formal, and from Rs. 50 to Rs. 150 may be given according +to the attractions of the girl, the largest sum being paid for a +woman of full age who can go and live with her husband at once. As a +consequence of this state of things poor men are sometimes unable to +get wives at all. Though they pay highly for their wives the Kohlis +are averse to extravagant expenditure on weddings, and all marriages +in a village are generally celebrated on the same day once a year, +the number of guests at each being thus necessarily restricted. The +officiating Brahman ascends the roof of a house and, after beating a +brass dish to warn the parties, repeats the marriage texts as the sun +goes down. At this moment all the couples place garlands of flowers +on each other's shoulders, each bridegroom ties the mangal-sutram +or necklace of black beads round his bride's neck, and the weddings +are completed. The bride's brother winds a thread round the marriage +crowns of the couple and is given two rupees for untying it. The +services of a Brahman are not indispensable, and an elder of the +caste may officiate as priest. Next day the barber and washerman +take the bridegroom and bride in their arms and dance, holding them, +to the accompaniment of music, while the women throw red rose-powder +over the couple. At their weddings the Kohlis make models in wood of +a Chamar's rampi or knife and khurpa or scraper, this custom perhaps +indicating some connection with the Chamars; or it may have arisen +simply on account of the important assistance rendered by the Chamar +to the cultivation of sugarcane, in supplying the mot or leather bag +for raising water from the well. After the wedding is over a string +of hemp from a cot is tied round the necks of the pair, and their +maternal uncles then run and offer it at the shrine of Marai Mata, +the goddess of cholera. Widows with any remains of youth or personal +attractions always marry again, the ceremony being held at midnight +according to the customary ritual of the Maratha Districts. [530] +Sometimes the husband does not attend at all, and the widow is united +to a sword or dagger as representing him. Otherwise the widow may +be conducted to her new husband's house by five other widows, and +in this case they halt at a stream by the way and the bangles and +beads are broken from off her neck and wrists. On account, perhaps, +of the utility of their wives, and the social temptations which beset +them from being continually abroad at work, the Kohlis are lenient to +conjugal offences, and a woman going wrong even with an outsider will +be taken back by her husband and only a trifling punishment imposed by +the caste. A Kohli can also keep a woman of any other caste, except +of those regarded as impure, without incurring any censure. Divorce +is very seldom resorted to and involves severe penalties to both +parties. As among the Panwars, a wife retains any property she may +bring to her husband and her wedding gifts at her own disposal, +this separate portion being known as khamora. The caste burn their +dead when they can afford it, placing the head of the corpse to the +north on the pyre. The bodies of those who have died from cholera +or smallpox are buried. Like the Panwars it is the custom of the +Kohlis on bathing after a funeral to have a meal of cakes and sugar +on the river-bank, a practice which is looked down on by orthodox +Hindus. After a month or so the deceased person is considered to be +united to the ancestors, and when he was the head of the family his +successor is inducted to the position by the presentation of a new +head-cloth and a silver bangle. The bereaved family are then formally +escorted to the weekly market and are considered to have resumed +their regular social relations. The Kohlis revere the ordinary Hindu +deities, and on the day of Dasahra they worship their axe, sickle and +ploughshare by washing them and making an offering of rice, flowers +and turmeric. The axe is no doubt included because it serves to cut +the wood for fencing the sugarcane garden. + + + + +3. The Kohlis as tank-builders. + +The Kohlis were the builders of the great tanks of the Bhandara +District. The most important of these are Nawegaon with an area of +five square miles and a circumference of seventeen, and Seoni, over +seven miles round, while smaller tanks are counted by thousands. Though +the largest are the work of the Kohlis, many of the others have been +constructed by the Panwars of this tract, who have also much aptitude +for irrigation. Built as they were without technical engineering +knowledge, the tanks form an enduring monument to the native ability +and industry of these enterprising cultivators. "Working," Mr. Danks +remarks, [531] "without instruments, unable even to take a level, +finding out their mistakes by the destruction of the works they had +built, ever repairing, reconstructing, altering, they have raised in +every village a testimony to their wisdom, their industry and their +perseverance." Although Nawegaon tank has a water area of seven square +miles, the combined length of the two artificial embankments is only +760 yards, and this demonstrates the great skill with which the site +has been selected. At some of the tanks men are stationed day and +night during the rainy season to see if the embankment is anywhere +weakened by the action of the water, and in that case to give the +alarm to the village by beating a drum. The Nawegaon tank is said to +have been built at the commencement of the eighteenth century by one +Kolu Patel Kohli. As might be expected, Kolu Patel has been deified +as Kolasur Deo, and his shrine is on one of the peaks surrounding the +tank. Seven other peaks are known as the Sat Bahini or 'Seven Sisters,' +and it is said that these deities assisted Kolu in building the tank, +by coming and working on the embankment at night when the labourers had +left. Some whitish-yellow stones on Kolasur's hill are said to be the +baskets of the Seven Sisters in which they carried earth. "The Kohli," +Mr. Napier states, [532] "sacrifices all to his sugarcane, his one +ambition and his one extravagance being to build a large reservoir +which will contain water for the irrigation of his sugarcane during +the long, hot months." Each rates the other according to the size of +his tank and the strength of its embankment. Under the Gond kings a +man who built a tank received a grant of the fields lying below it +either free of revenue or on a very light assessment. Such grants +were known as Tukm, and were probably a considerable incentive to +tank-building. Unfortunately sugarcane, formerly a most profitable +crop, has been undersold by the canal- and tank-irrigated product of +northern India, and at present scarcely repays cultivation. + + + + +4. Agricultural customs. + +The Kohli villages are managed on a somewhat patriarchal system, +and the dealings between proprietors and cultivators are regulated +by their own custom without much regard to the rules imposed by +Government. Mr. Napier says of them: [533] "The Kohlis are very good +landlords as a general rule; but in their dealings with their tenants +and their labourers follow their own customs, while the provisions +of the Tenancy Act often remain in abeyance. They admit no tenant +right in land capable of being irrigated for sugarcane, and change +the tenants as they please; and in many villages a large number of +the labourers are practically serfs, being fed, clothed and married +by their employers, for whom they and their children work all their +lives without any fixed wages. These customs are acquiesced in by all +parties, and, so far as I could learn, there was no discontent. They +have a splendid caste discipline, and their quarrels are settled +expeditiously by their panchayats or committees without reference to +courts of law." + + + + +5. General characteristics. + +In appearance and character the Kohlis cannot be said to show much +trace of distinction. The men wear a short white bandi or coat, and +a small head-cloth only three feet long. This is often scarcely more +than a handkerchief which tightly covers the crown, and terminates +in knots, inelegant and cheap. The women wear glass bangles only on +the left hand and brass or silver ones on the right, no doubt because +glass ornaments would interfere with their work and get broken. Their +cloth is drawn over the left shoulder instead of the right, a custom +which they share with Gonds, Kapewars and Buruds. In appearance the +caste are generally dirty. They are ignorant themselves and do not care +that their children should be educated. Their custom of polygamy leads +to family quarrels and excessive subdivision of property; thus in one +village, Ashti, the proprietary right is divided into 192 shares. On +this account they are seldom well-to-do. Their countenances are of +a somewhat inferior type and generally dark in colour. In character +they are peaceful and amenable, and have the reputation of being +very respectful to Government officials, who as a consequence look +on them with favour. 'Their heart is good,' a tahsildar [534] of +the Bhandara District remarked. If a guest comes to a Kohli, the +host himself offers to wash his feet, and if the guest be a Brahman, +will insist on doing so. They eat flesh and fowls, but abstain from +liquor. In social status they are on a level with the Malis and a +little below the regular cultivating castes. + + + + + + +KOL + + +[This article is based mainly on Colonel Dalton's classical description +of the Mundas and Hos in the Ethnology of Bengal and on Sir H. Risley's +article on Munda in The Tribes and Castes of Bengal. Extracts have +also been made from Mr. Sarat Chandra Roy's exhaustive account in The +Mundas and their Country (Calcutta, 1912). Information on the Mundas +and Kols of the Central Provinces has been collected by Mr. Hira Lal in +Raigarh and by the author in Mandla, and a monograph has been furnished +by Mr. B. C. Mazumdar, Pleader, Sambalpur. It should be mentioned +that most of the Kols of the Central Provinces have abandoned the +old tribal customs and religion described by Colonel Dalton, and are +rapidly coming to resemble an ordinary low Hindu caste.] + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice. Strength of the Kols in India. + 2. Names of the tribe. + 3. Origin of the Kolarian tribes. + 4. The Kolarians and Dravidians. + 5. Date of the Dravidian immigration. + 6. Strength of the Kols in the Central Provinces. + 7. Legend of origin. + 8. Tribal subdivisions. + 9. Totemism. + 10. Marriage customs. + 11. Divorce and widow-marriage. + 12. Religion. + 13. Witchcraft. + 14. Funeral rites. + 15. Inheritance. + 16. Physical appearance. + 17. Dances. + 18. Social rules and offences. + 19. The caste panchayat. + 20. Names. + 21. Occupation. + 22. Language. + + + + +1. General notice. Strength of the Kols in India. + +Kol, Munda, Ho.--A great tribe of Chota Nagpur, which has given its +name to the Kolarian family of tribes and languages. A part of the +District of Singhbhum near Chaibasa is named the Kolhan as being +the special home of the Larka Kols, but they are distributed all +over Chota Nagpur, whence they have spread to the United Provinces, +Central Provinces and Central India. It seems probable also that the +Koli tribe of Gujarat may be an offshoot of the Kols, who migrated +there by way of Central India. If the total of the Kols, Mundas and Hos +or Larka Kols be taken together they number about a million persons +in India. The real strength of the tribe is, however, much greater +than this. As shown in the article on that tribe, the Santals are +a branch of the Kols, who have broken off from the parent stock and +been given a separate designation by the Hindus. They numbered two +millions in 1911. The Bhumij (400,000) are also probably a section of +the tribe. Sir H. Risley [535] states that they are closely allied to +if not identical with the Mundas. In some localities they intermarry +with the Mundas and are known as Bhumij Munda. [536] If the Kolis +also be taken as an offshoot of the Kol tribe, a further addition of +nearly three millions is made to the tribes whose parentage can be +traced to this stock. There is little doubt also that other Kolarian +tribes, as the Kharias, Khairwars, Korwas and Korkus, whose tribal +languages closely approximate to Mundari, were originally one with +the Mundas, but have been separated for so long a period that their +direct connection can no longer be proved. The disintegrating causes, +which have split up what was originally one into a number of distinct +tribes, are probably no more than distance and settlement in different +parts of the country, leading to cessation of intermarriage and +social intercourse. The tribes have then obtained some variation in +the original name or been given separate territorial or occupational +designations by the Hindus and their former identity has gradually +been forgotten. + + + + +2. Names of the tribe. + +"The word Kol is probably the Santali har, a man. This word is +used under various forms, such as har, hara, ho and koro by most +Munda tribes in order to denote themselves. The change of r to l is +familiar and does not give rise to any difficulty." [537] The word +Korku is simply a corruption of Kodaku, young men, and there is every +probability that the Hindus, hearing the Kol tribe call themselves +hor or horo, may have corrupted the name to a form more familiar +to themselves. An alternative derivation from the Sanskrit word +kola, a pig, is improbable. But it is possible, as suggested by Sir +G. Grierson, that after the name had been given, its Sanskrit meaning +of pig may have added zest to its employment by the Hindus. The +word Munda, Sir H. Risley states, is the common term employed by +the Kols for the headman of a village, and has come into general +use as an honorific title, as the Santals call themselves Manjhi, +the Gonds Bhoi, and the Bhangis and other sweepers Mehtar. Munda, +like Mehtar, originally a title, has become a popular alternative +name for the caste. In Chota Nagpur those Kols who have partly +adopted Hinduism and become to some degree civilised are commonly +known as Munda, while the name Ho or Larka Kol is reserved for the +branch of the tribe in Singhbhum who, as stated by Colonel Dalton, +"From their jealous isolation for so many years, their independence, +their long occupation of one territory, and their contempt for all +other classes that come in contact with them, especially the Hindus, +probably furnish the best illustration, not of the Mundaris in their +present state, but of what, if left to themselves and permanently +located, they were likely to become. Even at the present day the +exclusiveness of the old Hos is remarkable. They will not allow aliens +to hold land near their villages; and indeed if it were left to them +no strangers would be permitted to settle in the Kolhan." + +It is this branch of the tribe whose members have come several times +into contact with British troops, and on account of their bravery and +warlike disposition they are called the Larka or fighting Kols. The +Mundas on the other hand appear now to be a very mixed group. The +list of their subcastes given [538] by Sir H. Risley includes the +Khangar, Kharia, Mahali, Oraon and Savar Mundas, all of which are the +names of separate tribes, now considered as distinct, though with +the exception of the Oraons they were perhaps originally offshoots +of the Kols or akin to them; while the Bhuinhar or landholders and +Nagvansi or Mundas of the royal house are apparently the aristocracy +of the original tribe. It would appear possible from the list of +sub-tribes already given that the village headmen of other tribes, +having adopted the designation of Munda and intermarried with other +headmen so as to make a superior group, have in some cases been +admitted into the Munda tribe, which may enjoy a higher rank than +other tribes as the Raja of Chota Nagpur belongs to it; but it is +also quite likely that these groups may have simply arisen from the +intermarriages of Mundas with other tribes, alliances of this sort +being common. The Kols of the Central Provinces probably belong to +the Munda tribe of Chota Nagpur, and not to the Hos or Larka Kols, +as the latter would be less likely to emigrate. But quite a separate +set of subcastes is found here, which will be given later. + + + + +3. Origin of the Kolarian tribes. + +The Munda languages have been shown by Sir G. Grierson to have +originated from the same source as those spoken in the Indo-Pacific +islands and the Malay Peninsula. "The Mundas, the Mon-Khmer, +the wild tribes of the Malay Peninsula and the Nicobarese all use +forms of speech which can be traced back to a common source though +they mutually differ widely from each other." [539] It would appear +therefore that the Mundas, the oldest known inhabitants of India, +perhaps came originally from the south-east, the islands of the Indian +Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula, unless India was their original +home and these countries were colonised from it. + +Sir E. Gait states: "Geologists tell us that the Indian Peninsula +was formerly cut off from the north of Asia by sea, while a land +connection existed on the one side with Madagascar and on the other +with the Malay Archipelago; and though there is nothing to show that +India was then inhabited we know that it was so in palaeolithic times, +when communication was probably still easier with the countries to the +north-east and south-west than with those beyond the Himalayas." [540] +In the south of India, however, no traces of Munda languages remain at +present, and it seems therefore necessary to conclude that the Mundas +of the Central Provinces and Chota Nagpur have been separated from the +tribes of Malaysia who speak cognate languages for an indefinitely +long period, or else that they did not come through southern India +to these countries, but by way of Assam and Bengal or by sea through +Orissa. There is good reason to believe from the names of places and +from local tradition that the Munda tribes were once spread over Bihar +and parts of the Ganges valley; and if the Kolis are an offshoot of +the Kols, as is supposed, they also penetrated across Central India to +the sea in Gujarat and the hills of the Western Ghats. It is presumed +that the advance of the Aryans or Hindus drove the Mundas from the +open country to the seclusion of the hills and forests. The Munda +and Dravidian languages are shown by Sir G. Grierson to be distinct +groups without any real connection. + + + + +4. The Kolarians and Dravidians. + +Though the physical characteristics of the two sets of tribes +display no marked points of difference, it has been generally held +by ethnologists who know them that they represent two distinct waves +of immigration, and the absence of connection between their languages +bears out this view. It has always been supposed that the Mundas were +in the country of Chota Nagpur and the Central Provinces first, and +that the Dravidians, the Gonds, Khonds and Oraons came afterwards. The +grounds for this view are the more advanced culture of the Dravidians; +the fact that where the two sets of tribes are in contact those of the +Munda group have been ousted from the more open and fertile country, +of which according to tradition they were formerly in possession; +and the practice of the Gonds and other Dravidian tribes of employing +the Baigas, Bhuiyas and other Munda tribes for their village priests, +which is an acknowledgment that the latter as the earlier residents +have a more familiar acquaintance with the local deities, and can +solicit their favour and protection with more prospect of success. Such +a belief is the more easily understood when it is remembered that +these deities are not infrequently either the human ancestors of the +earliest residents or the local animals and plants from which they +supposed themselves to be descended. + + + + +5. Date of the Dravidian immigration. + +The Dravidian languages, Gondi, Kurukh and Khond, are of one family +with Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Canarese, and their home is the +south of India. As stated [541] by Sir E. Gait, there is at present +no evidence to show that the Dravidians came to southern India from +any other part of the world, and for anything that is known to the +contrary the languages may have originated there. The existence of +the small Brahui tribe in Baluchistan, who speak a Dravidian language +but have no physical resemblance to other Dravidian races, cannot +be satisfactorily explained, but as he points out this is no reason +for holding that the whole body of speakers of Dravidian languages +entered India from the north-west, and, with the exception of this +small group of Brahuis, penetrated to the south of India and settled +there without leaving any traces of their passage. + +The Dravidian languages occupy a large area in Madras, Mysore and +Hyderabad, and they extend north into the Central Provinces and +Chota Nagpur, where they die out, practically not being found west +and north of this tract. As the languages are more highly developed +and the culture of their speakers is far more advanced in the south, +it is justifiable to suppose, pending evidence to the contrary, that +the south is their home and that they have spread thence as far north +as the Central Provinces. The Gonds and Oraons too have stories to the +effect that they came from the south. It has hitherto been believed, +at least in the Central Provinces, that both the Gonds and Baigas +have been settled in this territory for an indefinite period, that is, +from prior to any Aryan or Hindu immigration. Mr. H. A. Crump, however, +has questioned this assumption. He points out that the Baiga tribe have +entirely lost their own language and speak a dialect of Chhattisgarhi +Hindi in Mandla, while half the Gonds still speak Gondi. If the +Baigas and Gonds were settled here together before the arrival of +any Hindus, how is it that the Baigas do not speak Gondi instead of +Hindi? A comparison of the caste and language tables of the census of +1901 shows that several of the Munda tribes have entirely lost their +own language, among these being the Binjhwar, Baiga, Bhaina, Bhuiya, +Bhumij, Chero and Khairwar, and the Bhils and Kolis if these are held +to be Munda tribes. None of these tribes have adopted a Dravidian +language, but all speak corrupt forms of the current Aryan vernaculars +derived from Sanskrit. The Mundas and Hos themselves with the Kharias, +Santals and Korkus retain Munda languages. On the other hand a half +of the Gonds, nearly all the Oraons and three-fourths of the Khonds +still preserve their own Dravidian speech. It would therefore seem +that the Munda tribes who speak Aryan vernaculars must have been +in close contact with Hindu peoples at the time they lost their own +language and not with Gonds or Oraons. In the Central Provinces it +is known that Rajput dynasties were ruling in Jubbulpore from the +sixth to the twelfth century, in Seoni about the sixth century and +in Bhandak near Chanda from an early period as well as at Ratanpur +in Chhattisgarh. From about the twelfth century these disappear and +there is a blank till the fourteenth century or later, when Gond +kingdoms are found established at Kherla in Betul, at Deogarh in +Chhindwara, at Garha-Mandla [542] including the Jubbulpore country, +and at Chanda fourteen miles from Bhandak. It seems clear then that +the Hindu dynasties were subverted by the Gonds after the Muhammadan +invasions of northern India had weakened or destroyed the central +powers of the Hindus and prevented any assistance being afforded to +the outlying settlements. But it seems prima facie more likely that +the Hindu kingdoms of the Central Provinces should have been destroyed +by an invasion of barbarians from without rather than by successful +risings of their own subjects once thoroughly subdued. The Haihaya +Rajput dynasty of Ratanpur was the only one which survived, all the +others being supplanted by Gond states. If then the Gond incursion +was subsequent to the establishment of the old Hindu kingdoms, +its probable date may be placed from the ninth to the thirteenth +centuries, the subjugation of the greater part of the Province being +no doubt a gradual affair. In favour of this it may be noted that some +recollection still exists of the settlement of the Oraons in Chota +Nagpur being later than that of the Mundas, while if it had taken place +long before this time all tradition of it would probably have been +forgotten. In Chhindwara the legend still remains that the founder of +the Deogarh Gond dynasty, Jatba, slew and supplanted the Gaoli kings +Ransur and Ghansur, who were previously ruling on the plateau. And the +Bastar Raj-Gond Rajas have a story that they came from Warangal in the +south so late as the fourteenth century, accompanied by the ancestors +of some of the existing Bastar tribes. Jadu Rai, the founder of the +Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla, is supposed to have lived near +the Godavari. A large section of the Gonds of the Central Provinces are +known as Rawanvansi or of the race of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, +who was conquered by Rama. The Oraons also claim to be descended +from Rawan. [543] This name and story must clearly have been given +to the tribes by the Hindus, and the explanation appears to be that +the Hindus considered the Dravidian Gonds and Oraons to have been the +enemy encountered in the Aryan expedition to southern India and Ceylon, +which is dimly recorded in the legend of Rama. On the other hand the +Bhuiyas, a Munda tribe, call themselves Pawan-ka-put or Children of +the Wind, that is of the race of Hanuman, who was the Son of the Wind; +and this name would appear to show, as suggested by Colonel Dalton, +that the Munda tribes gave assistance to the Aryan expedition and +accompanied it, an alliance which has been preserved in the tale of +the exploits of Hanuman and his army of apes. Similarly the name of +the Ramosi caste of Berar is a corruption of Ramvansi or of the race +of Rama; and the Ramosis appear to be an offshoot of the Bhils or +Kolis, both of whom are not improbably Munda tribes. A Hindu writer +compared the Bhil auxiliaries in the camp of the famous Chalukya +Rajput king Sidhraj of Gujarat to Hanuman and his apes, on account +of their agility. [544] These instances seem to be in favour of the +idea that the Munda tribes assisted the Aryans, and if this were the +case it would appear to be a legitimate inference that at the same +period the Dravidian tribes were still in southern India and not +mixed up with the Munda tribes in the Central Provinces and Chota +Nagpur as at present. Though the evidence is perhaps not very strong, +the hypothesis, as suggested by Mr. Crump, that the settlement of the +Gonds in the Central Provinces is comparatively recent and subsequent +to the early Rajput dynasties, is well worth putting forward. + + + + +6. Strength of the Kols in the Central Provinces. + +In the Central Provinces the Kols and Mundas numbered 85,000 persons in +1911. The name Kol is in general use except in the Chota Nagpur States, +but it seems probable that the Kols who have immigrated here really +belong to the Munda tribe of Chota Nagpur. About 52,000 Kols, or nearly +a third of the total number, reside in the Jubbulpore District, and the +remainder are scattered over all Districts and States of the Province. + + + + +7. Legend of origin. + +The Kol legend of origin is that Sing-Bonga or the Sun created a boy +and a girl and put them together in a cave to people the world; but +finding them to be too innocent to give hope of progeny he instructed +them in the art of making rice-beer, which inflames the passions, +and in course of time they had twelve sons and twelve daughters. The +divine origin ascribed by the Kols, in common with other peoples, +to their favourite liquor may be noticed. The children were divided +into pairs, and Sing-Bonga set before them various kinds of food to +choose for their sustenance before starting out into the world; and the +fate of their descendants depended on their choice. Thus the first and +second pairs took the flesh of bullocks and buffaloes, and from them +are descended the Kols and Bhumij; one pair took shell-fish and became +Bhuiyas, two pairs took pigs and were the ancestors of the Santals, +one pair took vegetables only and originated the Brahman and Rajput +castes, and other pairs took goats and fish, from whom the various +Sudra castes are sprung. One pair got nothing, and seeing this the Kol +pair gave them of their superfluity and the descendants of these became +the Ghasias, who are menials in Kol villages and supported by the +cultivators. The Larka Kols attribute their strength and fine physique +to the fact that they eat beef. When they first met English soldiers +in the beginning of the nineteenth century the Kols were quickly +impressed by their wonderful fighting powers, and finding that the +English too ate the flesh of bullocks, paid them the high compliment +of assigning to them the same pair of ancestors as themselves. The +Nagvansi Rajas of Chota Nagpur say that their original ancestor was a +snake-god who assumed human form and married a Brahman's daughter. But, +like Lohengrin, the condition of his remaining a man was that he should +not disclose his origin, and when he was finally brought to satisfy +the incessant curiosity of his wife, he reverted to his first shape, +and she burned herself from remorse. Their child was found by some +wood-cutters lying in the forest beneath a cobra's extended hood, +and was brought up in their family. He subsequently became king, +and his seven elder brothers attended him as banghy-bearers when +he rode abroad. The Mundas are said to be descended from the seven +brothers, and their sign-manual is a kawar or banghy. [545] Hence the +Rajas of Chota Nagpur regard the Mundas as their elder brothers, and +the Ranis veil their faces when they meet a Munda as to a husband's +elder brother. The probable explanation of the story is that the Hos +or Mundas, from whom the kings are sprung, were a separate section of +the tribe who subdued the older Mundas. In memory of their progenitor +the Nagvansi Rajas wear a turban folded to resemble the coils of a +snake with a projection over the brow for its head. [546] + + + + +8. Tribal subdivisions. + +The subcastes of the Kols in the Central Provinces differ entirely +from those in Chota Nagpur. Of the important subcastes here the Rautia +and Rautele take their name from Rawat, a prince, and appear to be +a military or landholding group. In Chota Nagpur the Rautias are +a separate caste, holding land. The Rautia Kols practise hypergamy +with the Rauteles, taking their daughters in marriage but not giving +daughters. They will eat with Rauteles at wedding feasts only and +not on any other occasion. The Thakuria, from thakur, a lord, are +said to be the progeny of Rajput fathers and Kol mothers; and the +Kagwaria to be named from kagwar, an offering made to ancestors in +the month of Kunwar. The Desaha, from desh, native country, belong +principally to Rewah. In some localities Bharias, Savars and Khairwars +are found who call themselves Kols and appear to be included in the +tribe. The Bharias may be an offshoot of the Bhar tribe of northern +India. It has already been seen that several groups of other tribes +have been amalgamated with the Mundas of Chota Nagpur, probably in a +great measure from intermarriage, and a similar fusion seems to have +occurred in the Central Provinces. Intermarriage between the different +subtribes, though nominally prohibited, not infrequently takes place, +and a girl forming a liaison with a man of another division may be +married to him and received into it. The Rautias, however, say that +they forbid this practice. + + + + +9. Totemism. + +The Mandla Kols have a number of totemistic septs. The Bargaiyan +are really called after a village Bargaon, but they connect their +name with the bar or banyan tree, and revere it. At their weddings a +branch of this tree is laid on the roof of the marriage-shed, and the +wedding-cakes are cooked in a fire made of the wood of the banyan tree +and served to all the relations of the sept on its leaves. At other +times they will not pluck a leaf or a branch from a banyan tree or +even go beneath its shade. The Kathotia sept is named after kathota, +a bowl, but they revere the tiger. Bagheshwar Deo, the tiger-god, +resides on a little platform in their verandas. They may not join in a +tiger-beat nor sit up for a tiger over a kill. In the latter case they +think that the tiger would not come and would be deprived of his food, +and all the members of their family would get ill. If a tiger takes +one of their cattle, they think there has been some neglect in their +worship of him. They say that if one of them meets a tiger in the +forest he will fold his hands and say, 'Maharaj, let me pass,' and +the tiger will then get out of his way. If a tiger is killed within +the limits of his village a Kathotia Kol will throw away his earthen +pots as in mourning for a relative, have his head shaved and feed a +few men of his sept. The Katharia sept take their name from kathri, +a mattress. A member of this sept must never have a mattress in his +house nor wear clothes sewn in crosspieces as mattresses are sewn. The +word kathri should never be mentioned before him as he thinks some +great misfortune would thereby happen to his family, but this belief +is falling into abeyance. The name of the Mudia or Mudrundia sept +is said to mean shaven head, but they apparently revere the white +kumhra or gourd, perhaps because it has some resemblance to a shaven +head. They give a white gourd to a woman on the third day after she +has borne a child, and her family then do not eat this vegetable +for three years. At the expiration of the period the head of the +family offers a chicken to Dulha Deo, frying it with the feathers +left on the head, and eating the head and feet himself. Women may not +join in this sacrifice. The Kumraya sept revere the brown kumhra or +gourd. They grow this vegetable on the thatch of their house-roof, +and from the time of planting it until the fruits have been plucked +they do not touch it. The Bhuwar sept are named after bhu or bhumi, the +earth. They must always sleep on the earth and not on cots. Other septs +are Nathunia, a nose-ring; Karpatia, a kind of grass; and Binjhwar, +from the tribe of that name. From Raigarh a separate group of septs +is reported, the names of which further demonstrate the mixed nature +of the tribe. Among these are Bandi, a slave; Kawar, Gond, Dhanuhar, +Birjhia, all of which are the names of distinct tribes; Sonwani, +gold-water; Keriari, or bridle; Khunta, a peg; and Kapat, a shutter. + + + + +10. Marriage customs. + +Marriage within the sept is prohibited, but violations of this +rule are not infrequent. Outside the sept a man may marry any woman +except the sisters of his mother or stepmother. Where, as in some +localities, the septs have been forgotten, marriage is forbidden +between those relatives to whom the sacramental cakes are distributed +at a wedding. Among the Mundas, before a father sets out to seek a +bride for his son, he invites three or four relatives, and at midnight +taking a bottle of liquor pours a little over the household god as a +libation and drinks the rest with them. They go to the girl's village, +and addressing her father say that they have come to hunt. He asks +them in what jungle they wish to hunt, and they name the sarna or +sacred grove in which the bones of his ancestors are buried. If the +girl's father is satisfied with the match, he then agrees to it. A +bride-price of Rs. 10-8 is paid in the Central Provinces. Among the Hos +of Chota Nagpur so large a number of cattle was formerly demanded in +exchange for a bride that many girls were never married. Afterwards it +was reduced to ten head of cattle, and it was decided that one pair of +bullocks, one cow and seven rupees should be equivalent to ten head, +while for poor families Rs. 7 was to be the whole price. [547] Among +the Mundas of Raigarh the price is three or four bullocks, but poor +men may give Rs. 12 or Rs. 18 in substitution. Here weddings may +only be held in the three months of Aghan, Magh and Phagun, [548] +and preferably in Magh. Their marriage ceremony is very simple, +the bridegroom simply smearing vermilion on the bride's forehead, +after which water is poured over the heads of the pair. Two pots of +liquor are placed beside them during the ceremony. It is also a good +marriage if a girl of her own accord goes and lives in a man's house +and he shows his acceptance by dabbing vermilion on her. But her +offspring are of inferior status to those of a regular marriage. The +Kols of Jubbulpore and Mandla have adopted the regular Hindu ceremony. + + + + +11. Divorce and widow-marriage. + +Divorce and widow-marriage are permitted. In Raigarh the widow is +bound to marry her deceased husband's younger brother, but not +elsewhere. Among these Mundas, if divorce is effected by mutual +consent, the husband must give his wife a pair of loin-cloths and +provisions for six months. Polygamy is seldom practised, as women can +earn their own living, and if a wife is superseded she will often +run away home or set up in a house by herself. In Mandla a divorce +can be obtained by either party, the person in fault having to pay +a fee of Rs. 1-4 to the panchayat; the woman then breaks her bangles +and the divorce is complete. + + + + +12. Religion. + +At the head of the Munda pantheon, Sir H. Risley states, [549] stands +Sing-Bonga or the sun, a beneficent but ineffective deity who concerns +himself but little with human affairs. But he may be invoked to avert +sickness or calamity, and to this end sacrifices of white goats or +white cocks are offered to him. Next to him comes Marang Buru, the +mountain god, who resides on the summit of the most prominent hill +in the neighbourhood. Animals are sacrificed to him here, and the +heads left and appropriated by the priest. He controls the rainfall, +and is appealed to in time of drought and when epidemic sickness is +abroad. Other deities preside over rivers, tanks, wells and springs, +and it is believed that when offended they cause people who bathe +in the water to be attacked by leprosy and skin diseases. Even the +low swampy rice-fields are haunted by separate spirits. Deswali is +the god of the village, and he lives with his wife in the Sarna or +sacred grove, a patch of the primeval forest left intact to afford +a refuge for the forest gods. Every village has its own Deswali, +who is held responsible for the crops, and receives an offering of a +buffalo at the agricultural festival. The Jubbulpore Kols have entirely +abandoned their tribal gods and now worship Hindu deities. Devi is +their favourite goddess, and they carry her iron tridents about with +them wherever they go. Twice in the year, when the baskets of wheat +or Gardens of Adonis are sown in the name of Devi, she descends on +some of her worshippers, and they become possessed and pierce their +cheeks with the trident, sometimes leaving it in the face for hours, +with one or two men standing beside to support it. When the trident +is taken out a quid of betel is given to the wounded man, and the +part is believed to heal up at once. These Kols also employ Brahmans +for their ceremonies. Before sowing their fields they say-- + + + Thuiya, Bhuiya, [550] Dharti Mata, Thakur Deo, Bhainsa Sur; + khub paida kariye Maharaj; + + +that is, they invoke Mother Earth, Thakur Deo, the corn-god, and +Bhainsasur, the buffalo demon, to give them good crops; and as they say +this they throw a handful of grain in the air in the name of each god. + + + + +13. Witchcraft. + +"Among the Hos," Colonel Dalton states, "all disease in men or animals +is attributed to one of two causes--the wrath of some evil spirit +who has to be appeased, or the spell of some witch or sorcerer who +should be destroyed or driven out of the land. In the latter case +a sokha or witch-finder is employed to ascertain who has cast the +spell, and various methods of divination are resorted to. In former +times the person denounced and all his family were put to death +in the belief that witches breed witches and sorcerers. The taint +is in the blood. When, during the Mutiny, Singhbhum District was +left for a short time without officers, a terrible raid was made +against all who had been suspected for years of dealing with the +evil one, and the most atrocious murders were committed. Young men +were told off for the duty by the elders; neither age nor sex were +spared. When order was restored, these crimes were brought to light, +and the actual perpetrators punished; and since then we have not only +had no recurrence of witch murders, but the superstition itself is +dying out in the Kolhan." Mr. H. C. Streatfeild states that among +the Mundas witches used to be hung head downwards from a pipal tree +over a slow fire, the whole village dancing as they were gradually +roasted, but whether this ceremony was purely vindictive or had any +other significance there is nothing to show. [551] + + + + +14. Funeral rites. + +The Hos of Chota Nagpur were accustomed to place large slabs of stone +as tombstones over their graves, and a collection of these massive +gravestones indelibly marks the site of every Ho or Mundari village, +being still found in parts of the country where there have been no +Kols for ages. In addition to this slab, a megalithic monument is +set up to the deceased in some conspicuous spot outside the village; +the pillars vary in height from five or six to fifteen feet, and +apparently fragments of rock of the most fantastic shape are most +favoured. All the clothes, ornaments and agricultural implements of +the dead man were buried with the body. The funeral rites were of a +somewhat touching character: [552] "When all is ready, a funeral party +collects in front of the deceased's house, three or four men with +very deep-toned drums, and a group of about eight young girls. The +chief mourner comes forth, carrying the bones exposed on a decorated +tray, and behind him the girls form two rows, carrying empty or broken +pitchers or battered brass vessels, while the men with drums bring up +the rear. The procession advances with a ghostly dancing movement, +slow and solemn as a minuet, in time to the beat of the deep-toned +drums, not straight forward, but mysteriously gliding--now right, +now left, now marking time, all in the same mournful cadence. In +this manner the remains are taken to the house of every friend +and relative of the deceased within a circle of a few miles, and +to every house in the village. As the procession approaches each +house in the manner described, the inmates all come out, and the +tray having been placed on the ground at their door, they kneel over +it and mourn. The bones are also thus conveyed to all his favourite +haunts, the fields he cultivated, the grove he planted, the tank he +excavated, the threshing-floor where he worked with his people, the +Akhara or dancing-arena where he made merry with them, and each spot +which is hallowed with reminiscences of the deceased draws forth fresh +tears." In Sambalpur [553] the dead body of a Munda is washed in wine +before interment, and a mark of vermilion is made on the forehead. The +mourners drink wine sitting by the grave. They then bathe, and catch +a small fish and roast it on a fire, smearing their hands with oil +and warming them at the fire. It would appear that this last rite +is a purification of the hands after contact with the dead body, but +whether the fish is meant to represent the deceased and the roasting +of it is a substitute for the rite of cremation is not clear. During +the eight days of mourning the relatives abstain from flesh-meat, +but they eat fish. The Kols of Jubbulpore now bury or burn the dead, +and observe mourning exactly like ordinary Hindus. + + + + +15. Inheritance. + +Succession among the Mundas passes to sons only. Failing these, +the property goes to the father or brothers if any. At partition the +eldest son as a rule gets a slightly larger share than the other sons, +a piece of land, and in well-to-do families a yoke of plough cattle, +or only a bullock or a goat, and sometimes a bundle of paddy weighing +from 10 to 16 maunds. [554] Partition cannot usually be made till the +youngest son is of age. Daughters get no share in the inheritance, +and are allotted among the sons just like live-stock. Thus if a man +dies leaving three sons and three daughters and thirty head of cattle, +on a division each son would get ten head of cattle and one sister; +but should there be only one sister, they wait till she marries and +divide the bride-price. A father may, however, in his lifetime make +presents of cash or movables to a daughter, though not of land. It +is doubtful whether these rules still obtain among the Hinduised Kols. + + + + +16. Physical appearance. + +"The Mundas," Colonel Dalton states, "are one of the finest of the +aboriginal tribes. The men average something like 5 feet 6 inches, +and many of them are remarkably well developed and muscular. Their +skin is of the darkest brown, almost black in many cases, and their +features coarse, with broad flat noses, low foreheads and thick lips, +presenting as a rule a by no means prepossessing appearance. The women +are often more pleasing, the coarseness of the features being less +accentuated or less noticeable on account of the extreme good-nature +and happy carelessness that seldom fail to mark their countenance. They +are fond of ornament, and a group of men and girls fully decked out +for a festival makes a fine show. Every ornament in the shape of bead +necklace, silver collar, bracelet, armlet and anklet would seem to have +been brought out for the occasion. The head-dress is the crowning point +of the turn-out. The long black hair is gathered up in a big coil, most +often artificially enlarged, the whole being fastened at the right-hand +side of the back of the head just on a level with and touching the +right ear. In this knot are fastened all sorts of ornaments of brass +and silver, and surmounting it, stuck in every available space, are +gay plumes of feathers that nod and wave bravely with the movements +of the dance. The ears are distorted almost beyond recognition by huge +earrings that pierce the lobe and smaller ones that ornament them all +round." In Mandla women are tattooed with the figure of a man or a +man on horseback, and on the legs behind also with the figure of a +man. They are not tattooed on the face. Men are never tattooed. + + + + +17. Dances. + +"Dancing is the inevitable accompaniment of every gathering, and they +have a great variety suitable to the special times and seasons. The +motion is slow and graceful, a monotonous sing-song being kept up all +through. The steps are in perfect time and the action wonderfully +even and regular. This is particularly noticeable in some of the +variations of the dances representing the different seasons and +the necessary acts of cultivation that each brings with it. In one +the dancers bending down make a motion with their hands as though +they were sowing the grain, keeping step with their feet all the +time. Then come the reaping of the crop and the binding of the sheaves, +all done in perfect time and rhythm, and making with the continuous +droning of the voices a quaint and picturesque performance." In the +Central Provinces the Kols now dance the Karma dance of the Gonds, +but they dance it in more lively fashion. The step consists simply +in advancing or withdrawing one foot and bringing the other up or +back beside it. The men and women stand opposite each other in two +lines, holding hands, and the musicians alternately face each line +and advance and retreat with them. Then the lines move round in a +circle with the musicians in the centre. + + + + +18. Social rules and offences. + +Munda boys are allowed to eat food cooked by other castes, except the +very lowest, until they are married, and girls until they let their +hair grow long, which is usually at the age of six or seven. After +this they do not take food as a tribe from any other caste, even a +Brahman, though some subtribes accept it from certain castes as the +Telis (oil-pressers) and Sundis or liquor-vendors. In Jubbulpore +the Kols take food from Kurmis, Dhimars and Ahirs. The Mundas will +eat almost all kinds of flesh, including tigers and pigs, while in +Raigarh they consider monkey as a delicacy, hunting these animals +with dogs. In the Central Provinces they have generally abjured beef, +in deference to Hindu prejudice, and sometimes refuse field-mice, +to which the Khonds and Gonds are very partial. Neither Kols nor +Mundas are, however, considered impure and the barber and washerman +will work for them. In Sambalpur a woman is finally expelled from +caste for a liaison with one of the impure Gandas, Ghasias or Doms, +and a man is expelled for taking food from a woman of these castes, +but adultery with her may be expiated by a big feast. Other offences +are much the same as among the Hindus. A woman who gets her ear torn +through where it is pierced is put out of caste for six months or a +year and has to give two feasts on readmission. + + + + +19. The caste panchayat. + +In Mandla the head of the panchayat is known as Gaontia, a name for +a village headman, and he is always of the Bargaiya sept, the office +being usually hereditary. When a serious offence is committed the +Gaontia fixes a period of six months to a year for the readmission of +the culprit, or the latter begs for reinstatement when he has obtained +the materials for the penalty feast. A feast for the whole Rautele +subcaste will entail 500 seers or nearly 9 cwt. of kodon, costing +perhaps Rs. 30, and they say there would not be enough left for a cold +breakfast for the offender's family in the morning. When a man has a +petition to make to the Gaontia, he folds his turban round his neck, +leaving the head bare, takes a piece of grass in his mouth, and with +four prominent elders to support him goes to the Gaontia and falls +at his feet. The others stand on one leg behind him and the Gaontia +asks them for their recommendation. Their reverence for the caste +panchayat is shown by their solemn form of oath, 'Sing-Bonga on high +and the Panch on earth.' [555] The Kols of Jubbulpore and Mandla are +now completely conforming to Hindu usage and employ Brahmans for their +ceremonies. They are most anxious to be considered as good Hindus and +ape every high-caste custom they get hold of. On one occasion I was +being carried on a litter by Kol coolies and accompanied by a Rajput +chuprassie and was talking to the Kols, who eagerly proclaimed their +rigid Hindu observances. Finally the chuprassie said that Brahmans +and Rajputs must have three separate brushes of date-palm fibre for +their houses, one to sweep the cook-room which is especially sacred, +one for the rest of the house, and one for the yard. Lying gallantly +the Kols said that they also kept three palm brushes for cleaning +their houses, and when it was pointed out that there were no date-palms +within several miles of their village, they said they sent periodical +expeditions to the adjoining District to bring back fibre for brushes. + + + + +20. Names. + +Colonel Dalton notes that the Kols, like the Gonds, give names +to their children after officers visiting the village when they +are born. Thus Captain, Major, Doctor are common names in the +Kolhan. Mr. Mazumdar gives an instance of a Kol servant of the Raja +of Bamra who greatly admired some English lamp-chimneys sent for by +the Raja and called his daughter 'Chimney.' They do not address any +relative or caste-man by his name if he is older than themselves, +but use the term of relationship to a relative and to others the +honorific title of Gaontia. + + + + +21. Occupation. + +The Mundari language has no words for the village trades nor for +the implements of cultivation, and so it may be concluded that prior +to their contact with the Hindus the Mundas lived on the fruits and +roots of the forests and the pursuit of game and fish. Now, however, +they have taken kindly to several kinds of labour. They are much +in request on the Assam tea-gardens owing to their good physique +and muscular power, and they make the best bearers of dhoolies or +palanquins. Kol bearers will carry a dhoolie four miles an hour +as against the best Gond pace of about three, and they shake the +occupant less. They also make excellent masons and navvies, and are +generally more honest workers than the other jungle tribes. A Munda +seldom comes into a criminal court. + + + + +22. Language. + +The Kols of the Central Provinces have practically abandoned their +own language, Mundari being retained only by about 1000 persons in +1911. The Kols and Mundas now speak the Hindu vernacular current in +the tracts where they reside. Mundari, Santali, Korwa and Bhumij are +practically all forms of one language which Sir G. Grierson designates +as Kherwari. [556] + + + + + + +KOLAM + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice of the tribe. + 2. Marriage. + 3. Disposal of the dead. + 4. Religion and superstitions. + 5. Social position. + 6. Miscellaneous customs. + + + + +1. General notice of the tribe. + +Kolam. [557]--A Dravidian tribe residing principally in the Wun taluk +of the Yeotmal District. They number altogether about 25,000 persons, +of whom 23,000 belong to Wun and the remainder to the adjoining +tracts of Wardha and Hyderabad. They are not found elsewhere. The +tribe are generally considered to be akin to the Gonds [558] on the +authority of Mr. Hislop. He wrote of them: "The Kolams extend all +along the Kandi Konda or Pindi Hills on the south of the Wardha river +and along the table-land stretching east and north of Manikgad and +thence south to Dantanpalli, running parallel to the western bank +of the Pranhita. The Kolams and the common Gonds do not intermarry, +but they are present at each other's nuptials and eat from each +other's hand. Their dress is similar, but the Kolam women wear fewer +ornaments, being generally content with a few black beads of glass +round their neck. Among their deities, which are the usual objects of +Gond adoration, Bhimsen is chiefly honoured." Mr. Hislop was, however, +not always of this opinion, because he first excluded the Kolams from +the Gond tribes and afterwards included them. [559] In Wardha they are +usually distinguished from the Gonds. They have a language of their +own, called after them Kolami. Sir G. Grierson [560] describes it as, +"A minor dialect of Berar and the Central Provinces which occupies a +position like that of Gondi between Canarese, Tamil and Telugu. The +so-called Kolami, the Bhili spoken in the Pusad taluk of Basim and +the so-called Naiki of Chanda agree in so many particulars that +they can almost be considered as one and the same dialect. They are +closely related to Gondi. The points in which they differ from that +language are, however, of sufficient importance to make it necessary +to separate them from that form of speech. The Kolami dialect differs +widely from the language of the neighbouring Gonds. In some points +it agrees with Telugu, in other characteristics with Canarese and +connected forms of speech. There are also some interesting points of +analogy with the Toda dialect of the Nilgiris, and the Kolams must, +from a philological point of view, be considered as the remnants of +an old Dravidian tribe who have not been involved in the development +of the principal Dravidian languages, or of a tribe who have not +originally spoken a Dravidian form of speech." + +The family names of the tribe also are not Gondi, but resemble those +of Maratha castes. Out of fifty sept names recorded, only one, Tekam, +is found among the Gonds. "All their songs and ballads," Colonel +Mackenzie says, "are borrowed from the Marathas: even their women when +grinding corn sing Marathi songs." In Wun their dress and appearance +resembles that of the Kunbis, but in some respects they retain very +primitive customs. Colonel Mackenzie states that until recently in +Berar they had the practice of capturing husbands for women who would +otherwise have gone unwedded, this being apparently a survival of the +matriarchate. It does not appear that the husbands so captured were +ever unphilosophical enough to rebel under the old regime, though +British enlightenment has taught them otherwise. Widows and widowers +were exempt from capture and debarred from capturing. In view of the +connection mentioned by Sir G. Grierson between the Kolami dialect +and that of the Todas of the Nilgiri hills who are a small remnant of +an ancient tribe and still practise polyandry, Mr. Hira Lal suggests +that the Kolams may be connected with the Kolas, a tribe akin to the +Todas [561] and as low in the scale of civilisation, who regard the +Kolamallai hills as their original home. [562] He further notes that +the name of the era by which the calendar is reckoned on the Malabar +coast is Kolamba. In view of Sir G. Grierson's statement that the +Kolami dialect is the same as that of the Naik Gonds of Chanda it +may be noted that the headman of a Kolam village is known as Naik, +and it is possible that the Kolams may be connected with the so-called +Naik Gonds. + + + + +2. Marriage. + +The Kolams have no subtribes, but are divided for purposes of marriage +into a number of exogamous groups. The names of these are in the +Marathi form, but the tribe do not know their meaning. Marriage between +members of the same group is forbidden, and a man may not marry two +sisters. Marriage is usually adult, and neither a betrothal nor a +marriage can be concluded in the month of Poush (December), because +in this month ancestors are worshipped. Colonel Mackenzie states that +marriages should be celebrated on Wednesdays and Saturdays at sundown, +and Monday is considered a peculiarly inauspicious day. If a betrothal, +once contracted, is broken, a fine of five or ten rupees must be paid +to the caste-fellows together with a quantity of liquor. Formerly, +as stated above, the tribe sometimes captured husbands, and they still +have a curious method of seizing a wife when the father cannot procure +a mate for his son. The latter attended by his comrades resorts to +the jungle where his wife-elect is working in company with her female +relations and friends. It is a custom of the tribe that the sexes +should, as a rule, work in separate parties. On catching sight of her +the bridegroom pursues her, and unless he touches her hand before she +gets back to her village, his friends will afford him no assistance. If +he can lay hold of the girl a struggle ensues between the two parties +for her possession, the girl being sometimes only protected by women, +while on other occasions her male relatives hear of the fray and come +to her assistance. In the latter case a fight ensues with sticks, +in which, however, no combatant may hit another on the head. If the +girl is captured the marriage is subsequently performed, and even +if she is rescued the matter is often arranged by the payment of a +few rupees to the girl's father. Nowadays the whole affair tends to +degenerate into a pretence and is often arranged beforehand by the +parties. The marriage ceremony resembles that of the Kunbis except +that the bridegroom takes the bride on his lap and their clothes are +tied together in two places. After the ceremony each of the guests +takes a few grains of rice, and after touching the feet, knees and +shoulders of the bridal couple with the rice, throws it over his own +back. The idea may be to remove any contagion of misfortune or evil +spirits who may be hovering about them. A widow can remarry only with +her parents' consent, but if she takes a fancy to a man and chooses +to enter his house with a pot of water on her head he cannot turn her +out. A man cannot marry a widow unless he has been regularly wedded +once to a girl, and once having espoused a widow by what is known +as the pat ceremony, he cannot again go through a proper marriage. A +couple who wish to be divorced must go before the caste panchayat or +committee with a pot of liquor. Over this is laid a dry stick and the +couple each hold an end of it. The husband then addresses his wife as +sister in the presence of the caste-fellows, and the wife her husband +as brother; they break the stick and the divorce is complete. + + + + +3. Disposal of the dead. + +The tribe bury their dead, and observe mourning for one to five +days in different localities. The spirits of deceased ancestors are +worshipped on any Monday in the month of Poush. The mourner goes and +dips his head into a tank or stream, and afterwards sacrifices a fowl +on the bank, and gives a meal to the caste-fellows. He then has the +hair of his face and head shaved. Sons inherit equally, and if there +are no sons the property devolves on daughters. + + + + +4. Religion and superstitions. + +The Kolams, Colonel Mackenzie states, recognise no god as a principle +of beneficence in the world; their principal deities are Sita, to +whom the first-fruits of the harvest are offered, and Devi who is the +guardian of the village, and is propitiated with offerings of goats +and fowls to preserve it from harm. She is represented by two stones +set up in the centre of the village when it is founded. They worship +their implements of agriculture on the last day of Chait (April), +applying turmeric and vermilion to them. In May they collect the stumps +of juari from a field, and, burning them to ashes, make an offering +of the same articles. They have a curious ceremony for protecting +the village from disease. All the men go outside the village and on +the boundary at the four points pointing north-east, north-west and +opposite place four stones known as bandi, burying a fowl beneath each +stone. The Naik or headman then sacrifices a goat and other fowls to +Sita, and placing four men by the stones, proceeds to sprinkle salt +all along the boundary line, except across one path on which he lays +his stick. He then calls out to the men that the village is closed +and that they must enter it only by that path. This rule remains in +force throughout the year, and if any stranger enters the village by +any other than the appointed route, they consider that he should pay +the expenses of drawing the boundary circuit again. But the rule is +often applied only to carts, and relaxed in favour of travellers on +foot. The line marked with salt is called bandesh, and it is believed +that wild animals cannot cross it, while they are prevented from +coming into the village along the only open road by the stick of +the Naik. Diseases also cannot cross the line. Women during their +monthly impurity are made to live in a hut in the fields outside +the boundary line. The open road does not lead across the village, +but terminates at the chauri or meeting-house. + + + + +5. Social position. + +Though the Kolams retain some very primitive customs, those of Yeotmal, +as already stated, are hardly distinguishable from the Kunbis or +Hindu cultivators. Colonel Mackenzie notes that they are held to be +lower than the Gonds, because a Kolam will take food from a Gond, +but the latter will not return the compliment. They will eat the +flesh of rats, tigers, snakes, squirrels and of almost any animals +except dogs, donkeys and jackals. In another respect they are on a +level with the lowest aborigines, as some of them do not use water +to clean their bodies after performing natural functions, but only +leaves. Yet they are not considered as impure by the Hindus, are +permitted to enter Hindu temples, and hold themselves to be defiled +by the touch of a Mahar or a Mang. A Kolam is forbidden to beg by +the rules of the tribe, and he looks down on the Mahars and Mangs, +who are often professional beggars. In Wardha, too, the Kolams will +not collect dead-wood for sale as fuel. + + + + +6. Miscellaneous customs. + +Here their houses contain only a single room with a small store-house, +and all the family sleep together without privacy. Consequently +there is no opportunity at night for conjugal intimacy, and husband +and wife seek the solitude of the forest in the daytime. Colonel +Mackenzie states: "All Kolams are great smokers, but they are not +allowed to smoke in their own houses, but only at the chauri or +meeting-house, where pipes and fire are kept; and this rule is +enforced so that the Naik or headman can keep an eye on all male +members of the community; if these do not appear at least once a day, +satisfactory reasons are demanded for their absence, and from this +rule only the sick and infirm are exempt. The Kolams have two musical +instruments: the tapate or drum, and the wass or flute, the name of +which is probably derived from the Sanskrit waunsh, meaning bamboo +(of which the instrument is made). In old times all Kolams could read +and write, and it is probably only poverty which prevents them from +having all their children educated now." This last statement must, +however, be accepted with reserve in the absence of intimation of +the evidence on which it is based. At present they are, as a rule, +quite illiterate. The Naik or headman formerly had considerable +powers, being entrusted with the distribution of land among the +cultivators, and exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction with +the assistance of the panchayat. His own land was ploughed for him +by the villagers. Even now they seldom enter a court of justice +and their disputes are settled by the panchayat. A strong feeling +of clannishness exists among them, and the village unites to avenge +an injury done to one of its members. Excommunication from caste is +imposed for the usual offences, and the ceremony of readmission is +as follows: The offender dips his head in a river or stream and the +village barber shaves his head and moustaches. He then sits beside a +lighted pile of wood, being held to be purified by the proximity of the +holy element, and afterwards bathes, and drinks some water into which +the caste-fellows have dipped their toes. A woman has to undergo the +same ceremony and have her head shaved. If an unmarried girl becomes +with child by a member of the caste, she is married to him by the +simple rite used for widow-remarriage. A Kolam must not swear by a +dog or cat, and is expelled from caste for killing either of these +two animals. A Kolam does not visit a friend's house in the evening, +as he would be suspected in such an event of having designs upon his +wife's virtue. The tribe are cultivators and labourers. They have +not a very good reputation for honesty, and are said to be addicted +to stealing the ripe cotton from the bolls. They never wear shoes, +and the soles of their feet become nearly invulnerable and capable +of traversing the most thorny ground without injury. They have an +excellent knowledge of the medicinal and other uses of all trees, +shrubs and herbs. + + + + + + +KOLHATI + + +[Bibliography: Mr. Kitts' Berar Census Report (1881); Major Gunthorpe's +Criminal Tribes of Bombay, Berar and the Central Provinces (Times +Press, Bombay).] + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Introductory notice. + 2. Internal structure. + 3. Marriage. + 4. Funeral rites. + 5. Other customs. + 6. Occupation. + + + + +1. Introductory notice. + +Kolhati, Dandewala, Bansberia, Kabutari. [563]--The name by which +the Beria caste of Northern and Central India is known in Berar. The +Berias themselves, in Central India at any rate, are a branch of the +Sansias, a vagrant and criminal class, whose traditional occupation +was that of acting as bards and genealogists to the Jat caste. The +main difference between the Sansias and Berias is that the latter +prostitute their women, or those of them who are not married. [564] +The Kolhatis of Berar, who also do this, appear to be a branch of +the Beria caste who have settled in the Deccan and now have customs +differing in several respects from those of the parent caste. It +is therefore desirable to reproduce briefly the main heads of the +information given about them in the works cited above. In 1901 the +Kolhatis numbered 1300 persons in Berar. In the Central Provinces +they were not shown separately, but were included with the Nats. But +in 1891 a total of 250 Kolhatis were returned. The word Kolhati is +said to be derived from the long bamboo poles which they use for +jumping, known as Kolhat. The other names, Dandewala and Bansberia, +meaning those who perform feats with a stick or bamboo, also have +reference to this pole. Kabutari as applied to the women signifies +that their dancing resembles the flight of a pigeon (kabutar). They +say that once on a time a demon had captured some Kunbis and shut +them up in a cavern. But the Kunbis besought Mahadeo to save them, +and he created a man and a woman who danced before the demon and +so pleased him that he promised them whatever they should ask; +and they thus obtained the freedom of the Kunbis. The man and woman +were named Kabutar and Kabutari on account of their skilful dancing, +and were the ancestors of the Kolhatis. The Kolhatis of the Central +Provinces appear to differ in several respects from those of Berar, +with whom the following article is mainly concerned. + + + + +2. Internal structure. + +The caste has two main divisions in Berar, the Dukar Kolhatis and the +Kham or Pal Kolhatis. The name of the former is derived from dukar, +hog, because they are accustomed to hunt the wild pig with dogs and +spears when these animals become too numerous and damage the crops of +the villagers. They also labour for themselves by cultivating land and +taking service as village watchmen; and they are daring criminals and +commit dacoity, burglary and theft; but they do not steal cattle. The +Kham Kolhatis, on the other hand, are a lazy, good-for-nothing class +of men, who, beyond making a few combs and shuttles of bone, will set +their hands to no kind of labour, but subsist mainly by the immoral +pursuits of their women. At every large fair may be seen some of +the portable huts of this tribe, made of rusa grass, [565] the women +decked in jewels and gaudy attire sitting at each door, while the men +are lounging lazily at the back. The Dukar Kolhati women, Mr. Kitts +states, also resort to the same mode of life, but take up their abode +in villages instead of attending fairs. Among the Dukar Kolhatis the +subdivisions have Rajput names; and just as a Chauhan Rajput may not +marry another Chauhan so also a Chauhan Dukar Kolhati may not marry +a person of his own clan. In Bilaspur they are said to have four +subcastes, the Marethi or those coming from the Maratha country, the +Bansberia or pole-jumpers, the Suarwale or hunters of the wild pig, +and the Muhammadan Kolhatis, none of whom marry or take food with +each other. Each group is further subdivided into the Asal and Kamsal +(Kam-asal), or the pure and mixed Kolhatis, who marry among themselves, +outsiders being admitted to the Kamsal or mixed group. + + + + +3. Marriage. + +The marriage ceremony in Berar [566] consists simply in a feast at +which the bride and bridegroom, dressed in new clothes, preside. Much +liquor is consumed and the dancing-girls of the tribe dance before +them, and the happy couple are considered duly married according to +Kolhati rites. Married women do not perform in public and are no less +moral and faithful than those of other castes, while those brought +up as dancing-girls do not marry at all. In Bilaspur weddings are +arranged through the headman of the village, who receives a fee for +his services, and the ceremony includes some of the ordinary Hindu +rites. Here a widow is compelled to marry her late husband's younger +brother on pain of exclusion from caste. People of almost any caste may +become Kolhatis. When an outsider is admitted he must have a sponsor +into whose clan he is adopted. A feast is given to the caste, and +the applicant catches the right little finger of his sponsor before +the assembly. Great numbers of Rajputs and Muhammadans join them, and +on the other hand a large proportion of the fair but frail Kolhatis +embrace the Muhammadan faith. [567] + + + + +4. Funeral rites. + +The bodies of children are buried, and those of the adult dead may +be either buried or cremated. Mr. Kitts states that on the third day, +if they can afford the ceremony, they bring back the skull and placing +it on a bed offer to it powder, dates and betel-leaves; and after a +feast lasting for three days it is again buried. According to Major +Gunthorpe the proceedings are more elaborate: "Each division of the +caste has its own burial-ground in some special spot, to which it is +the heart's desire of every Kolhati to carry, when he can afford it, +the bones of his deceased relatives. After the cremation of an adult +the bones are collected and buried pending such time as they can be +conveyed to the appointed cemetery, if this be at a distance. When the +time comes, that is, when means can be found for the removal, the bones +are disinterred and placed in two saddle-bags on a donkey, the skull +and upper bones in the right bag and the leg and lower bones in the +left. The ass is then led to the deceased's house, where the bags of +bones are placed under a canopy made ready for their reception. High +festival, as for a marriage, is held for three days, and at the end +of this time the bags are replaced on the donkey, and with tom-toms +beating and dancing-girls of the tribe dancing in front, the animal +is led off to the cemetery. On arrival, the bags, with the bones in +them, are laid in a circular hole, and over it a stone is placed to +mark the spot, and covered with oil and vermilion; and the spirit +of the deceased is then considered to be appeased." They believe +that the spirits of dead ancestors enter the bodies of the living +and work evil to them, unless they are appeased with offerings. The +Dukar Kolhatis offer a boar to the spirits of male ancestors and a sow +to females. An offering of a boar is also made to Bhagwan (Vishnu), +who is the principal deity of the caste and is worshipped with great +ceremony every second year. [568] + + + + +5. Other customs. + +Although of low caste the Kolhatis refrain from eating the flesh of the +cow and other animals of the same tribe. The wild cat, mongoose, wild +and tame pig and jackal are considered as delicacies. The caste have +the same ordeals as are described in the article on the Sansias. As +might be expected in a class which makes a living by immoral practices +the women considerably outnumber the men. No one is permanently +expelled from caste, and temporary exclusion is imposed only for a +few offences, such as an intrigue with or being touched by a member +of an impure caste. The offender gives a feast, and in the case of a +man the moustache is shaved, while a woman has five hairs of her head +cut off. The women have names meant to indicate their attractions, +as Panna emerald, Munga coral, Mehtab dazzling, Gulti a flower, Moti +a pearl, and Kesar saffron. If a girl is detected in an intrigue with +a caste-fellow they are fined seven rupees and must give a feast to +the caste, and are then married. When, however, a girl is suspected +of unchastity and no man will take the responsibility on himself, +she is put to an ordeal. She fasts all night, and next morning is +dressed in a white cloth, and water is poured over her head from a new +earthen pot. A piece of iron is heated red hot between cowdung cakes, +and she must take up this in her hand and walk five steps with it, also +applying it to the tip of her tongue. If she is burnt her unchastity +is considered to be proved, and the idea is therefore apparently that +if she is innocent the deity will intervene to save her. + + + + +6. Occupation. + +The Dukar Kolhati males, Major Gunthorpe states, are a fine manly +set of fellows. They hunt the wild boar with dogs, the men armed with +spears following on foot. They show much pluck in attacking the boar, +and there is hardly a man of years who does not bear scars received in +fights with these animals. The villagers send long distances for a gang +to come and rid them of the wild pig, which play havoc with the crops, +and pay them in grain for doing so. But they are also much addicted +to crime, and when they have decided on a dacoity or house-breaking +they have a good drinking-bout and start off with their dogs as if +to hunt the boar. And if they are successful they bury the spoil, +and return with the body of a pig or a hare as evidence of what they +have been doing. Stolen property is either buried at some distance +from their homes or made over to the safe keeping of men with whom +the women of the caste may be living. Such men, who become intimate +with the Kolhatis through their women, are often headmen of villages +or hold other respectable positions, and are thus enabled to escape +suspicion. Boys who are to become acrobats are taught to jump from +early youth. The acrobats and dancing-girls go about to fairs and other +gatherings and make a platform on a cart, which serves as a stage for +their performances. The dancing-girl is assisted by her admirers, who +accompany her with music. Some of them are said now to have obtained +European instruments, as harmoniums or gramophones. They do not give +their performances on Thursdays and Mondays, which are considered +to be unlucky days. In Bombay they are said to make a practice of +kidnapping girls, preferably of high caste, whom they sell or bring +up as prostitutes. [569] + + + + + + +KOLI + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice of the caste. + 2. Subdivisions. + 3. Exogamous divisions. + 4. Widow-marriage or divorce. + 5. Religion. + 6. Disposal of the dead. + 7. Social rules. + + + + +1. General notice of the caste. + +Koli.--A primitive tribe akin to the Bhils, who are residents of the +western Satpura hills. They have the honorific title of Naik. They +numbered 36,000 persons in 1911, nearly all of whom belong to +Berar, with the exception of some 2000 odd, who live in the Nimar +District. These have hitherto been confused with the Kori caste. The +Koris or weavers are also known as Koli, but in Nimar they have the +designation of Khangar Koli to distinguish them from the tribe of +the same name. The Kolis proper are found in the Burhanpur tahsil, +where most villages are said to possess one or two families, and +on the southern Satpura hills adjoining Berar. They are usually +village servants, their duties being to wait on Government officers, +cleaning their cooking-vessels and collecting carts and provisions. The +duties of village watchman or kotwar were formerly divided between +two officials, and while the Koli did the most respectable part of the +work, the Mahar or Balahi carried baggage, sent messages, and made the +prescribed reports to the police. In Berar the Kolis acted for a time +as guardians of the hill passes. A chain of outposts or watch towers +ran along the Satpura hills to the north of Berar, and these were +held by Kolis and Bhils, whose duties were to restrain the predatory +inroads of their own tribesmen, in the same manner as the Khyber +Rifles now guard the passes on the North-West Frontier. And again +along the Ajanta hills to the south of the Berar valley a tribe of +Kolis under their Naiks had charge of the ghats or gates of the ridge, +and acted as a kind of local militia paid by assignments of land in +the villages. [570] In Nimar the Kolis, like the Bhils, made a trade +of plunder and dacoity during the unsettled times of the eighteenth +century, and the phrase 'Nahal, Bhil, Koli' is commonly used in old +Marathi documents to designate the hill-robbers as a class. The priest +of a Muhammadan tomb in Burhanpur still exhibits an imperial Parwana +or intimation from Delhi announcing the dispatch of a force for the +suppression of the Kolis, dated A.D. 1637. In the Bombay Presidency, +so late as 1804, Colonel Walker wrote: "Most Kolis are thieves by +profession, and embrace every opportunity of plundering either public +or private property." [571] The tribe are important in Bombay, where +their numbers amount to more than 1 1/2 million. It is supposed that +the common term 'coolie' is a corruption of Koli, [572] because the +Kolis were usually employed as porters and carriers in western India, +as 'slave' comes from Slav. The tribe have also given their name to +Colaba. [573] Various derivations have been given of the meaning of the +word Koli, [574] and according to one account the Kolis and Mairs were +originally the same tribe and came from Sind, while the Mairs were the +same as the Meyds or Mihiras who entered India in the fifth century +as one of the branches of the great White Hun horde. "Again, since +the settlement of the Mairs in Gujarat," the writer of the Gujarat +Gazetteer continues, "reverses of fortune, especially the depression +of the Rajputs under the yoke of the Muhammadans in the fourteenth +century, did much to draw close the bond between the higher and middle +grades of the warrior class. Then many Rajputs sought shelter among +the Kolis and married with them, leaving descendants who still claim +a Rajput descent and bear the names of Rajput families. Apart from +this, and probably as the result of an original sameness of race, +in some parts of Gujarat and Kathiawar intermarriage goes on between +the daughters of Talabda Kolis and the sons of Rajputs." Thus the +Thakur of Talpuri Mahi Kantha in Bombay calls himself a Pramara Koli, +and explains the term by saying that his ancestor, who was a Pramara +or Panwar Rajput, took water at a Koli's house. [575] As regards +the origin of the Kolis, however, whom the author of the Gujarat +Gazetteer derives from the White Huns, stating them to be immigrants +from Sind, another and perhaps more probable theory is that they are +simply a western outpost of the great Kol or Munda tribe, to which +the Korkus and Nahals and perhaps the Bhils may also belong. Mr. Hira +Lal suggests that it is a common custom in Marathi to add or alter so +as to make names end in i. Thus Halbi for Halba, Koshti for Koshta, +Patwi for Patwa, Wanjari for Banjara, Gowari for Goala; and in the +same manner Koli from Kol. This supposition appears a very reasonable +one, though there is little direct evidence. The Nimar Kolis have no +tradition of their origin beyond the saying-- + + + Siva ki jholi + Us men ka Koli, + + +or 'The Koli was born from Siva's wallet.' + + + + +2. Subdivisions. + +In the Central Provinces the tribe have the five subdivisions of +Surajvansi, Malhar, Bhilaophod, Singade, and the Muhammadan Kolis. The +Surajvansi or 'descendants of the sun' claim to be Rajputs. The Malhar +or Panbhari subtribe are named from their deity Malhari Deo, while +the alternative name of Panbhari means water-carrier. The Bhilaophod +extract the oil from bhilwa [576] nuts like the Nahals, and the Singade +(sing, horn, and gadna, to bury) are so called because when their +buffaloes die they bury the horns in their compounds. As with several +other castes in Burhanpur and Berar, a number of Kolis embraced Islam +at the time of the Muhammadan domination and form a separate subcaste. + +In Berar the principal group is that of the Mahadeo Kolis, whose name +may be derived from the Mahadeo or Pachmarhi hills. This would tend to +connect them with the Korkus, and through them with the Kols. They are +divided into the Bhas or pure and the Akaramase or impure Kolis. [577] +In Akola most of the Kolis are stated to belong to the Kshatriya group, +while other divisions are the Naiks or soldiers, the begging Kolis, +and the Watandars who are probably hereditary holders of the post of +village watchman. [578] + + + + +3. Exogamous divisions. + +The tribe have exogamous septs of the usual nature, but they have +forgotten the meaning of the names, and they cannot be explained. In +Bombay their family names are the same as the Maratha surnames, and the +writer of the Ahmadnagar Gazetteer [579] considers that some connection +exists between the two classes. A man must not marry a girl of his +own sept nor the daughter of his maternal uncle. Girls are usually +married at an early age. A Brahman is employed to conduct the marriage +ceremony, which takes place at sunset: a cloth is held between the +couple, and as the sun disappears it is removed and they join hands +amid the clapping of the assembled guests. Afterwards they march seven +times round a stone slab surrounded by four plough-yokes. Among the +Rewa Kantha Kolis the boy's father must not proceed on his journey +to find a bride for his son until on leaving his house he sees +a small bird called devi on his right hand; and consequently he +is sometimes kept waiting for weeks, or even for months. When the +betrothal is arranged the bridegroom and his father are invited to +a feast at the bride's house, and on leaving the father must stumble +over the threshold of the girl's door; without this omen no wedding +can prosper. [580] + + + + +4. Widow-marriage or divorce. + +The remarriage of widows is permitted, and the ceremony consists +simply in tying a knot in the clothes of the couple; in Ahmadabad all +they need do is to sit on the ground while the bridegroom's father +knocks their heads together. [581] Divorce is allowed for a wife's +misconduct, and if she marries her fellow delinquent he must repay to +the husband the expenses incurred by him on his wedding. Otherwise the +caste committee may inflict a fine of Rs. 100 on him and put him out +of caste for twelve years in default of payment, and order one side +of his moustache to be shaved. In Gujarat a married woman who has an +intrigue with another man is called savasan, and it is said that a +practice exists, or did exist, for her lover to pay her husband a price +for the woman and marry her, though it is held neither respectable nor +safe. [582] In Ahmadabad, if one Koli runs away with another's wife, +leaving his own wife behind him, the caste committee sometimes order +the offender's relatives to supply the bereaved husband with a fresh +wife. They produce one or more women, and he selects one and is quite +content with her. [583] + + + + +5. Religion. + +The Kolis of Nimar chiefly revere the goddess Bhawani, and almost every +family has a silver image of her. An important shrine of the goddess +is situated in Ichhapur, ten or twelve miles from Burhanpur, and here +members of the tribe were accustomed to perform the hook-swinging +rite in honour of the goddess. Since this has been forbidden they +have an imitation ceremony of swinging a bundle of bamboos covered +with cloth in lieu of a human being. + + + + +6. Disposal of the dead. + +The Kolis both bury and burn the dead, but the former practice is more +common. They place the body in the grave with head to the south and +face to the north. On the third day after the funeral they perform the +ceremony called Kandhe kanchhna or 'rubbing the shoulder.' The four +bearers of the corpse come to the house of the deceased and stand as +if they were carrying the bier. His widow smears a little ghi (butter) +on each man's shoulder and rubs the place with a small cake which +she afterwards gives to him. The men go to a river or tank and throw +the cakes into it, afterwards bathing in the water. This ceremony is +clearly designed to sever the connection established by the contact +of the bier with their shoulders, which they imagine might otherwise +render them likely to require the use of a bier themselves. On the +eleventh day a Brahman is called in, who seats eleven friends of the +deceased in a row and applies sandal-paste to their foreheads. All +the women whose husbands are alive then have turmeric rubbed on their +foreheads, and a caste feast follows. + + + + +7. Social rules. + +The Kolis eat flesh, including fowls and pork, and drink liquor. They +will not eat beef, but have no special reverence for the cow. They +will not remove the carcase of a dead cow or a dead horse. The social +status of the tribe is low, but they are not considered as impure, +and Gujars, Kunbis, and even some Rajputs will take water from +them. Children are named on the twelfth day after birth. Their hair +is shaved in the month of Magh following the birth, and on the first +day of the next month, Phagun, a little oil is applied to the child's +ear, after which it may be pierced at any time that is convenient. + + + + + + +Kolta + + +1. Origin and traditions. + +Kolta, [584] Kolita, Kulta.--An agricultural caste of the Sambalpur +District and the adjoining Uriya States. In 1901 the Central Provinces +contained 127,000 Koltas out of 132,000 in India, but since the +transfer of Sambalpur the headquarters of the caste belong to Bihar +and Orissa, and only 36,000 remain in the Central Provinces. In Assam +more than two lakhs of persons were enumerated under the caste name +of Kalita in 1901, but in spite of the resemblance of the name the +Kalitas apparently have no connection with the Uriya country, while +the Koltas know nothing of a section of their caste in Assam. The +Koltas of Sambalpur say that they immigrated from Baud State, +which they regard as their ancestral home, and a member of their +caste formerly held the position of Diwan of the State. According +to one of their legends their first ancestors were born from the +leavings of food of the legendary Raja Janak of Mithila or Tirhut, +whose daughter Sita married King Rama of Ajodhya, the hero of the +Ramayana. Some Koltas went with Sita to Ajodhya and were employed as +water-bearers in the royal household. When Rama was banished they +accompanied him in his wanderings, and were permitted to settle in +the Uriya country at the request of the Raghunathia Brahmans, who +wanted cultivators to till the soil. Another legend is that once upon +a time, when Rama was wandering in the forests of Sambalpur, he met +three brothers and asked them to draw water for him. The first brought +water in a clean brass pot, and was called Sudh (good-mannered). The +second made a cup of leaves and drew water from a well with a rope; +he was called Dumal, from dori-mal, a coil of rope. The third brought +water only in a hollow gourd, and he was named Kolta, from ku-rita, +bad-mannered. This story serves to show that the Koltas, Sudhs and +Dumals acknowledge some connection, and in the Sambalpur District they +will take food together at festivals. But this degree of intimacy +may simply have arisen from their common calling of agriculture, +and may be noticed among the cultivating castes elsewhere, as the +Kirars, Gujars and Raghuvansis in Hoshangabad. The most probable +theory of the origin of the Koltas is that they are an offshoot of +the great Chasa caste, the principal cultivating caste of the Uriya +country, corresponding to the Kurmis and Kunbis in Hindustan and the +Deccan. Several of their family names are identical with those of the +Chasas, and there is actually a subcaste of Kolita Chasas. Mr. Hira +Lal conjectures that the Koltas may be those Chasas who took to +growing kultha (Dolichos uniflorus), a favourite pulse in Sambalpur; +just as the Santora Kurmis are so named from their growing san-hemp, +and the Alia Banias and Kunbis from the al or Indian madder. This +hypothesis derives some support from the fact that the Koltas have no +subcastes, and the formation of the caste may therefore be supposed +to have occurred at a comparatively recent period. + + + + +2. Exogamous groups. + +The Koltas have both family names or gotras and exogamous sections or +bargas. The gotras are generally named after animals or other objects, +as Dip (lamp), Bachhas (calf), Hasti (elephant), Bharadwaj (blue-jay), +and so on. Members of the Bachhas gotra must not yoke a young bullock +to the plough for the first time, but must get this done by somebody +else. The names of the bargas are generally derived from villages or +from offices or titles. In one or two cases they show the admission of +members of other castes; thus the Rawat barga are the descendants of a +Rawat (herdsman) who was in the service of the Raja of Sambalpur. The +Raja had brought him up from infancy, and, wishing to make him a Kolta, +married him to a Kolta girl, despite the protests of the caste. The +ancestor of the Hinmiya Bhoi barga had a mistress of the Khond tribe, +who left him some property, and is still worshipped in the family. The +number of gotras is smaller than that of the bargas, and some gotras, +as the Nag or cobra, the tortoise and the pipal tree, are common to +many bargas. Marriage is forbidden between members of the same barga, +and between first cousins on the father's side. To have the same +gotra is no bar to marriage. + + + + +3. Marriage + +Girls should be wedded before maturity, as among most of the Uriya +castes, and if no suitable husband is forthcoming a nominal marriage is +sometimes arranged with an old man, and the girl is afterwards disposed +of as a widow. The boy's father makes the proposal for the marriage, +and if this is accepted the following formal ceremony takes place. He +goes to the girl's village, accompanied by some friends, and taking a +quantity of gur (raw sugar), and staying at some other house, sends +a messenger known as Jalangia to the girl's father, intimating that +he has a request to make. The girl's father pretends not to know what +it is, and replies that if he has anything to say the elders of the +village should be called to hear it. These assemble, and the girl's +father informs them that a stranger from another village has come to +ask something of him, and as he is ignorant of its purport, he has +asked them to do him the favour of being present. The boy's father then +opens a parable, saying that he was carried down a river in flood, and +saved himself by grasping a tree on the bank. The girl's father replies +that the roots of a riverside tree are weak, and he fears that the tree +itself would go down in the flood. The boy's father replies that in +that case he would be content to perish with the tree. Thereupon the +caste priest places a nut and some sacred rice cooked at Jagannath's +temple in the hands of the parties, who stand together facing the +company, and the girl's father says he has no objection to giving +his daughter in marriage, provided that she may not be abandoned +if she should subsequently become disfigured. The nut is broken and +distributed to all present in ratification of the agreement. After +this, other visits and a formal interchange of presents take place +prior to the marriage proper. This is performed with the customary +ceremonial of the Uriya castes. The marriage altar is made of earth +brought from outside the village by seven married women. Branches of +the mahua tree are placed on the altar, and after the conclusion of +the ceremony are thrown into a tank. The women also take a jar of water +to a tank and, emptying it, fill the jar with the tank water. They go +round to seven houses, and at each empty and refill the jar with water +from the house. The water finally brought back is used for bathing +the bride and bridegroom, and is believed to protect them from all +supernatural dangers. An image of the family totem made from powdered +rice is anointed with oil and turmeric, and worshipped daily while +the marriage is in progress. If the boy or girl is the eldest child, +the parents go through a mock marriage ceremony which the child is not +allowed to see. When the couple are brought into the marriage-shed, +they throw seven handfuls of rice mixed with mung [585] and salt +on each other. The priest ties the hands of the couple with thread +spun by virgins, and the relatives then pour water over the knot. The +bride's brother comes up and unties the knot, and gives the bridegroom +a blow on the back. This is meant to show his anger at being deprived +of his sister. He is given a piece of cloth and goes away. Presents +are made to the pair, and the women throw rice on them. They are +then taken inside the house and set to gamble with cowries. If the +bridegroom wins he promises an ornament to the bride. If she wins +she promises to serve him. The boy then asks her to sit with him on +a bench, and she at first refuses, and agrees when he promises her +other presents. Next day the bride's mother singes the cheeks of the +bridegroom with betel-leaves heated over a lamp, and throws cowdung +and rice over the couple to protect them from evil. The party takes +its departure for the bridegroom's village, and on arrival there his +sisters hold a cloth over the door of the house and will not let the +couple in till they are given a present. The bridegroom then shoots +an arrow at an image of a monkey or a deer, made of powdered rice, +which is brought back, cooked and eaten. The bride goes home in a +day or two, and the Bandapana ceremony is performed when she finally +departs to live with her husband on arrival at maturity. The Koltas +allow widow-marriage, but the husband has to pay a sum of about Rs. 100 +to the caste-people, the bulk of which is expended in feasting. Divorce +may be effected in the presence of the caste committee. + + + + +4. Religion. + +The caste worship the goddess Ramchandi, whose principal shrine is +at Sarsara in Baud State. In order to establish a local Ramchandi, +a handful of earth must be brought from her shrine at Sarsara and made +into a representation of the goddess. Some consider that Ramchandi is +the personification of Mother Earth, and the Koltas will not swear by +the earth. They worship the plough in the month of Shrawan, washing +it with water and milk, and applying sandal-paste with offerings +of flowers and food. The Puajiuntia festival is observed in Kunwar +for the well-being of a son. On this occasion barren women try to +ascertain whether they will get a son. A hole is made in the ground +and filled with water, and a living fish is placed in it. The woman +sits by the hole holding her cloth spread out, and if the fish in +struggling jumps into her cloth, it is held to prognosticate the +birth of a son. The caste worship their family gods and totems on the +10th day of Asarh, Bhadon, Kartik and Magh, which are called the pure +months. They employ Brahmans for religious ceremonies. Every man has +a guru who is a Bairagi, and he must be initiated by his guru before +he is allowed to marry. The caste both burn and bury the dead. They +eat flesh and fish, but generally abstain from liquor and the flesh +of unclean animals, though in some places they are known to eat rats +and crocodiles, and also the leavings of Brahmans. Brahmans will take +water from Koltas, and their social standing is equal to that of the +good agricultural castes. + + + + +5. Occupation. + +The Koltas are skilful cultivators and have the usual characteristics +belonging to the cultivating castes, of frugality, industry, hunger +for land, and readiness to resort to any degree of litigation rather +than relinquish a supposed right to it. They strongly appreciate +the advantages of irrigation and show considerable public spirit in +constructing tanks which will benefit the lands of their tenants as +well as their own. Nevertheless they are not popular, probably because +they are generally more prosperous than their neighbours. The rising +of the Khonds of Kalahandi in 1882 was caused by their discontent at +being ousted from their lands by the Koltas. The Raja of Kalahandi +had imported a number of Kolta cultivators, and these speedily got the +Khond headmen and ryots into their debt, and possessed themselves of +all the best land in the Khond villages. In May 1882 the Khonds rose +and slaughtered more than 80 Koltas, while 300 more were besieged +in the village of Norla, the Khonds appearing with portions of the +scalp and hair of the murdered victims hanging to their bows. On the +arrival of a body of police which had been summoned from Vizagapatam, +they dispersed, and the outbreak was soon afterwards suppressed, +seven of the ringleaders being arrested, tried and hanged by the +Political Officer. A settlement was made of the grievances of the +Khonds and tranquillity was restored. + + + + + + +Komti + + +Komti, Komati.--The Madras caste of traders corresponding to Banias. In +1911 they numbered 11,000 persons in the Central Provinces, principally +in the Chanda and Yeotmal Districts. The Komtis claim to be of the same +status as Banias and to belong to the Vaishya division of the Aryans, +but this is a very doubtful pretension. Mr. Francis remarks of them: +[586] "Three points which show them to be of Dravidian origin are +their adherence to the custom of obliging a boy to marry his paternal +uncle's daughter, however unattractive she may be, a practice which is +condemned by Manu; their use of the Puranic or lower ritual instead +of the Vedic rites in their ceremonies; and the fact that none of +the 102 gotras into which the caste is divided are those of the +twice-born, while some at any rate seem to be totemistic as they are +the names of trees and plants, and the members of each gotra abstain +from touching or using the plant or tree after which their gotra is +called." They are also of noticeably dark complexion. Komati is said +to be a corruption of Gomati, a tender of cows. [587] The caste have, +however, a great reputation for cunning and astuteness, and hence have +arisen the popular derivations of ko-mati, fox-minded, and go-mati, +cow-minded. The real meaning of the word is obscure. In Mysore the +caste have the title of Setti or Chetty, which is a corruption of +the Sanskrit Sreshtha, good, and in the Central Provinces their names +often terminate with Appa. + +The Komtis have the following story about themselves: Long ago, +in the Kaliyuga era, there lived a Rajput king of Rajahmundry, who +on his travels saw a beautiful Vaishya girl and fell in love with +her. Her father refused him, saying that they were of different +castes. But the king persisted and would not be denied. On which +the maiden determined to sacrifice herself to save her honour, and +her clansmen resolved to die with her. So she told the king that she +would marry him if he would agree to the hom sacrifice being performed +at the ceremony. When the fire was kindled the girl threw herself on +it and perished, followed by a hundred and two of her kinsmen. But +the others were cowardly and fled from the fire. Before she died the +girl cursed the king and her caste-fellows who had fled, and they +and their families were cut off from the earth. But from those who +died the hundred and two clans of the Komtis are descended, and they +worship the maiden as Kanika Devi. She is considered to have been an +incarnation of Parvati and is the heroine of the Kanikya Puran. It +is also said that she ordained that henceforth all Komtis should be +black, so that none of their women might come to harm by being desired +for their beauty as she had been. It is said that the caste look out +for a specially dark girl as a bride, and think that she will bring +luck to her husband and cause him to make money. Another explanation +of their dark colour is that they originally lived in Ceylon, and +when the island was set on fire by Rama their faces were blackened +in the smoke. The hundred and two clans have each a particular kind +of flower or tree which they do not grow, eat, touch or burn, and the +explanation they give of this custom is that their ancestors who went +into the fire were transformed into these trees and plants. The names +of the plants revered by each clan in the Central Provinces appear +to be the same as in Mysore. They include the brinjal, the mango, +the cotton-plant, wheat, linseed and others. + +The caste have several subcastes, among which are the Yajna, or those +whose ancestors went into the fire; the Patti, who are apparently +thread-sellers; the Jaina, or those who follow the Jain faith; and +the Vidurs, a half-caste section, who are the offspring of a Yajna +father and a mother of some low caste. There is a scarcity of girls, +and a bride-price of Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 is often paid. Perhaps for +the same reason the obligation to give a daughter to a sister's son is +strictly enforced, and a man who refuses to do this is temporarily put +out of caste. The gotras of the mothers of the bride and bridegroom +should not be the same, and there should be no 'Turning back of the +creeper,' as they say, that is, when a girl has married into a family, +the latter cannot give a girl in marriage to that girl's family ever +afterwards. Before the regular betrothal when a girl has been selected, +they appoint a day and the bridegroom's party proceed outside the +village to take the omens. If a bad omen occurs, they give up the +idea of the match and choose another girl. When the bridegroom has +arrived at the bride's village, before the marriage takes place, he +performs the Kashi-Yatra or Going to Benares. He is dressed as for +a journey and carries a small handful of rice and other provisions +tied up in packages in his upper garment. Thus accoutred, he sets +out with a stick and umbrella on a pretended visit to Benares, for +the purpose of devoting his life to study. The parents of the bride +meet him and beg him to give up the journey, promising him their +daughter in marriage. [588] The binding function of the marriage is +the tying of the mangal-sutram or piece of gold strung on a thread +round the bride's neck by the bridegroom. This gold piece is called +pushti and must never be taken off. If a woman loses it, she should +hide herself from everybody until it is replaced. On the way to her +husband's house, the bride should upset with her foot a measure of +rice kept on purpose in the way, perhaps with the idea of showing that +there will be so much grain in her household that she can afford to +waste it. [589] The Komtis did not eat in kitchens in the famines, +but accepted dry rations of food with great reluctance. They wear the +sacred thread and have caste-marks on their foreheads. They usually +rub powdered turmeric on their face and hands, and this lends an +unpleasant greenish tinge to the skin. + + + + + + +Kori + + +1. Description of the caste. + +Kori.--The Hindu weaving caste of northern India, as distinct +from the Julahas or Momins who are Muhammadans. In 1911 the Koris +numbered 35,000 persons, and resided mainly in Jubbulpore, Saugor and +Damoh. Mr. Crooke states that their name has been derived from that +of the Kol caste, of whom they have by some been assumed to be an +offshoot. [590] The Koris themselves trace their origin from Kabir, +the apostle of the weaving castes. He, they say, met a Brahman girl +on the bank of a tank, and, being saluted by her, replied, 'May God +give you a son.' She objected that she was a virgin and unmarried, +but Kabir answered that his word could not fail; and a boy was born +out of her hand, whom she left on the bank of the tank. He was suckled +by a heifer and subsequently adopted by a weaver and was the ancestor +of the Koris. Therefore the caste say of themselves: "He was born of +an undefiled vessel, and free from passion; he lowered his body and +entered the ocean of existence." This legend is a mere perversion of +the story of Kabir himself, designed to give the Koris a distinguished +pedigree. In the Central Provinces the caste appears to be almost +entirely a functional group, made up of members of other castes who +were either expelled from their own community or of their own accord +adopted the profession of weaving. The principal subdivision is the +Ahirwar, taking its name from the old town of Ahar in the Bulandshahr +District. Among the others are Kushta (Koshta), Chadar, Katia, Mehra, +Dhimar and Kotwar, all of which, except the last, are the names of +distinct castes; while the Kotwars represent members of the caste +who became village watchmen, and considering themselves somewhat +superior to the others, have formed a separate subcaste. None of the +subcastes will eat together or intermarry, and this fact is in favour +of the supposition that they are distinct groups amalgamated into a +caste by their common profession of weaving. The caste seem to have +a fairly close connection with Chamars in some localities. A number +of Koris belong to the sect of Rohidas, and some of their family +names are the same, while a Chamar will often call himself a Kori to +conceal his identity. For the purposes of marriage they are divided +into a number of bainks or septs, the names of which are territorial +or totemistic. Among the latter may be mentioned the Kulhariya from +kulhari, an axe, and the Barmaiya from the bar or banyan tree; members +of these septs pay reverence to an axe and a banyan tree respectively +at weddings. + + + + +2. Marriages + +The marriage of persons belonging to the same sept and also that of +first cousins is prohibited, while a family will not, if they can +help it, marry a daughter into the sept from which a son has taken +a wife. The rule of exogamy is thus rather wide in its action, as +is often found to be the case among the lowest and most primitive +castes. At the betrothal the father of the girl produces a red cloth +folded up, and on this the boy's father lays a rupee. This is passed +round to five members of the caste who cry, 'So-and-so's daughter and +So-and-so's son, Har bolo (In the name of Vishnu).' This completes the +betrothal, the father of the boy giving three rupees for a feast to +the caste-fellows. A girl who is made pregnant by a man of the caste +or any higher caste may be disposed of in marriage as a widow, but if +the man is of a lower caste than the Koris she is finally expelled. The +lagan or paper fixing the date of the marriage is written by a Brahman +and must not be shown to the bridegroom in the interval, lest he should +grow as thin as the paper bearing his name. While he is being anointed +and rubbed with turmeric the bridegroom is wrapped in a black blanket, +and his bridal dress consists of a yellow shirt, pyjamas of red cloth, +and red shoes, while he carries in his hand a dagger, nut-cracker or +knife. As he leaves his house to proceed to the bride's village he +steps on two clay lamp-saucers, crushing them with his foot. When the +party arrives the fathers of the bride and bridegroom sit together with +a pot full of curds between them and give each other to drink from it +as a mark of amity. The binding portion of the marriage consists in +walking round the sacred pole and the other ceremonies customary in +the northern Districts are performed. The bride does not return with +her husband unless she is adult; otherwise the usual gauna ceremony is +held subsequently. When she arrives at her husband's house she makes +prints of her hands smeared with turmeric on the wall before entering +it for the first time. The remarriage of widows is freely permitted; +the second husband takes the widow to his house after sunset, and here +she is washed by the barber's wife and puts on glass bangles again, +and new jewellery and clothes, if any are provided. No married woman +may see her as she enters the house. The husband must give a feast to +the caste-fellows, or at least to the panchayat or committee. Divorce +is freely permitted on payment of a fine to the panchayat. When a man +takes a second wife a sot or silver image of the deceased first wife +is hung round her neck when she enters his house, and is worshipped +on ceremonial occasions. + + + + +3. Customs at birth and death. + +A child is named on the day after its birth by some woman of the +caste; a Brahman is asked whether the day is auspicious, and he also +chooses the name. If this is the same as that of any living relation +or one recently dead, another name is given for ordinary use. A +daughter-in-law is usually given a new name when she goes to her +husband's house, such as Badi (elder), Manjhli (second son's wife), +Bari (innocent or simple), Jabalpurwali (belonging to Jubbulpore), and +so on. If a woman has borne only female children, the umbilical cord is +sometimes put in a small earthen pot and buried at a place where three +cross-roads meet, and it is supposed that the birth of a male child +will follow. Children whose shaving ceremony has not been performed, +and adults dying from snake-bite, cholera, smallpox or leprosy, are +buried, while others are burnt. Children are carried to the grave in +their parents' arms. On the return of a funeral party, liquor, provided +by the relatives of the family, is drunk at the house of the deceased. + + + + +4. Religion. + +The Koris worship the ordinary Hindu deities and especially Devi. They +become inspired by this goddess at the Jawara festival and pierce their +cheeks with iron needles and tridents. Every family has a household god +or Kul-Deo to whom a small platform is erected; offerings other than +animal sacrifices are made to him on festivals and on the celebration +of a marriage. + + + + +5. Occupation and social status. + +Those of the caste who are Kabirpanthis abstain from animal food, +but the others eat the flesh of most animals except tame pig, and +also drink liquor. Their social status is very low, but they are +not usually considered as impure. Their women are tattooed on the +right arm before marriage, and on the left after arrival at their +husband's house. Like several other low castes, they do not wear +nose-rings. The principal occupation of the caste is the weaving +of coarse country cloth, but as the trade of the hand-weaver is +nowadays precarious and unprofitable many of them have forsaken it +and taken to cultivation or daily labour. Mr. Nesfield says of them: +"The material used by the Kori is the thread supplied by the Dhunia +(Bahna); and thus the weaver caste has risen imperceptibly out of +that of the cotton-carder, in the same way as the cobbler caste has +risen out of the tanner. The art of weaving and plaiting threads +is very much the same process as that of plaiting osiers, reeds and +grass, and converting them into baskets and mats. This circumstance +explains the puzzle why the weaver caste in India stands at such +a low social level. He, however, ranks several degrees above the +Chamar or tanner; as, among Hindus, herbs and their products (cotton +being of course included) are invariably considered pure, while the +hides of dead animals are regarded as a pollution." This argument is +part of Mr. Nesfield's theory that the rank of each caste depends on +the period of civilisation at which its occupation came into being, +which is scarcely tenable. The reason why the weavers rank so low may, +perhaps, be that the Aryans when they settled in villages in northern +India despised all handicrafts as derogatory to their dignity. These +were left to the subject tribes, and as a large number of weavers +would be required, the industry would necessarily be embraced by +the bulk of those who formed the lowest stratum of the population, +and has ever since remained in their hands. If cloth was first woven +from the tree-cotton plant growing wild, the business of picking +and weaving it would naturally have fallen to the non-Aryan jungle +tribes, who afterwards became the impure menial and labouring castes +of the villages. + +The weaver is the proverbial butt of Hindu ridicule, like the tailor +in England. 'One Gadaria will account for ten weavers'; 'Four weavers +will spoil any business.' The following story also illustrates their +stupidity: Twenty weavers got into a field of kans grass. They thought +it was a tank and began swimming. When they got out they said, "Let +us all count and see how many we are, in case anybody has been left +in the tank." They counted and each left out himself, so that they +all made out nineteen. Just then a Sowar came by, and they cried, +to him, 'Oh, Sir, we were twenty, and one of us has been drowned in +this tank.' The Sowar seeing that there was only a field of grass, +counted them and found there were twenty; so he said, 'What will you +give me if I find the twentieth?' They promised him a piece of cloth, +on which the Sowar, taking his whip, lashed each of the weavers across +the shoulders, counting as he did so. When he had counted twenty he +took the cloth and rode away. Another story is that a weaver bought a +buffalo for twenty rupees. His brother then came to him and wanted a +share in the buffalo. They did not know how he should be given a share +until at last the weaver said, "You go and pay the man who sold me the +buffalo twenty rupees; and then you will have given as much as I have +and will be half-owner of the buffalo." Which was done. The ridicule +attaching to the weaver's occupation is due to its being considered +proper for a woman rather than a man, and similar jests were current +at the tailor's expense in England. In India the weaver probably takes +the tailor's place because woven and not sewn clothes have hitherto +been generally worn, as explained in the article on Darzi. + + + + + + +KORKU + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. Distribution and origin. + 2. Tribal legends. + 3. Tribal subdivisions. + 4. Marriage. Betrothal. + 5. The marriage ceremony. + 6. Religion. + 7. The Bhumka. + 8. Magical practices. + 9. Funeral rites. + 10. Appearance and social customs. + 11. Character. + 12. Inheritance. + 13. Occupation. + 14. Language. + + + + +1. Distribution and origin. + +Korku. [591]--A Munda or a Kolarian tribe akin to the Korwas, with whom +they have been identified in the India Census of 1901. They number +about 150,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, and belong +to the west of the Satpura plateau, residing only in the Hoshangabad, +Nimar, Betul and Chhindwara Districts. About 30,000 Korkus dwell in +the Berar plain adjoining the Satpuras, and a few thousand belong +to Bhopal. The word Korku means simply 'men' or 'tribesmen,' koru +being their term for a man and ku a plural termination. The tribe +have a language of their own, which resembles that of the Kols of +Chota Nagpur. The language of the Korwas, another Munda tribe found +in Chota Nagpur, is also known as Koraku or Korku, and one of their +subcastes has the same name. [592] Some Korkus or Mowasis are found +in Chota Nagpur, and Colonel Dalton considered them a branch of the +Korwas. Another argument may be adduced from the sept names of the +Korkus which are in many cases identical with those of the Kols +and Korwas. There is little reason to doubt then that the Korkus +are the same tribe as the Korwas, and both of these may be taken to +be offshoots of the great Kol or Munda tribe. The Korkus have come +much further west than their kinsmen, and between their residence +on the Mahadeo or western Satpura hills and the Korwas and Kols, +there lies a large expanse mainly peopled by the Gonds and other +Dravidian tribes, though with a considerable sprinkling of Kols in +Mandla, Jubbulpore and Bilaspur. These latter may have immigrated in +comparatively recent times, but the Kolis of Bombay may not improbably +be another offshoot of the Kols, who with the Korkus came west at a +period before the commencement of authentic history. [593] One of the +largest subdivisions of the Korkus is termed Mowasi, and this name +is sometimes applied to the whole tribe, while the tract of country +where they dwell was formerly known as the Mowas. Numerous derivations +of this term have been given, and the one commonly accepted is that +it signifies 'The troubled country,' and was applied to the hills +at the time when bands of Koli or Korku freebooters, often led by +dispossessed Rajput chieftains, harried the rich lowlands of Berar +from their hill forts on the Satpuras, exacting from the Marathas, +with poetical justice, the payments known as 'Tankha Mowasi' for the +ransom of the settled and peaceful villages of the plains. The fact, +however, that the Korkus found in Chota Nagpur are also known as Mowasi +militates against this supposition, for if the name was applied only +to the Korkus of the Satpura plateau it would hardly have travelled +as far east as Chota Nagpur. Mr. Hislop derived it from the mahua +tree. But at any rate Mowasi meant a robber to Maratha ears, and the +forests of Kalibhit and Melghat are known as the Mowas. + + + + +2. Tribal legends. + +According to their own traditions the Korkus like so many other early +people were born from the soil. They state that Rawan, the demon +king of Ceylon, observed that the Vindhyan and Satpura ranges were +uninhabited and besought Mahadeo [594] to populate them. Mahadeo +despatched his messenger, the crow Kageshwar, to find for him an +ant-hill made of red earth, and the crow discovered such an ant-hill +between the Saoligarh and Bhanwargarh ranges of Betul. Mahadeo went +to the place, and, taking a handful of red earth, made images in the +form of a man and a woman, but immediately two fiery horses sent by +Indra rose from the earth and trampled the images to dust. For two +days Mahadeo persisted in his attempts, but as often as the images +were made they were destroyed in a similar manner. But at length the +god made an image of a dog and breathed into it the breath of life, +and this dog kept off the horses of Indra. Mahadeo then made again +his two images of a man and woman, and giving them human life, called +them Mula and Mulai with the surname of Pothre, and these two became +the ancestors of the Korku tribe. Mahadeo then created various plants +for their use, the mahul [595] from whose strong and fibrous leaves +they could make aprons and head-coverings, the wild plantain whose +leaves would afford other clothing, and the mahua, the chironji, the +sewan and kullu [596] to provide them with food. Time went on and Mula +and Mulai had children, and being dissatisfied with their condition as +compared with that of their neighbours, besought Mahadeo to visit them +once more. When he appeared Mula asked the god to give him grain to eat +such as he had heard of elsewhere on the earth. Mahadeo sent the crow +Kageshwar to look for grain, and he found it stored in the house of +a Mang named Japre who lived at some distance within the hills. Japre +on hearing what was required besought the honour of a visit from the +god himself. Mahadeo went, and Japre laid before him an offering of 12 +khandis [597] of grain, 12 goats and 12 buckets of water, and invited +Mahadeo to eat and drink. The god was pleased with the offering and +unwilling to reject it, but considered that he could not eat food +defiled by the touch of the outcaste Mang, so Parvati created the +giant Bhimsen and bade him eat up the food offered to Mahadeo. When +Bhimsen had finished the offering, however, it occurred to him that +he also had been defiled by taking food from a Mang, and in revenge +he destroyed Japre's house and covered the site of it with débris +and dirt. Japre then complained to Mahadeo of this sorry requital of +his offering and prayed to have his house restored to him. Bhimsen +was ordered to do this, and agreed to comply on condition that Mula +should pay to him the same honour and worship as he accorded to Rawan, +the demon king. Mula promised to do so, and Bhimsen then sent the crow +Kageshwar to the tank Daldal, bidding him bring thence the pig Buddu, +who being brought was ordered to eat up all the dirt that covered +Japre's house. Buddu demurred except on condition that he also should +be worshipped by Mula and his descendants for ever. Mula agreed to pay +worship to him every third year, whereupon Buddu ate up all the dirt, +and dying from the effects received the name of Mahabissum, under which +he is worshipped to the present day. Mahadeo then took some seed from +the Mang and planted it for Mula's use, and from it sprang the seven +grains--kodon, kutki, gurgi, mandgi, barai, rala and dhan [598] which +the Korkus principally cultivate. It may be noticed that the story +ingeniously accounts for and sheds as it were an orthodox sanction on +the custom of the Korkus of worshipping the pig and the local demon +Bhimsen, who is placed on a sort of level with Rawan, the opponent +of Rama. After recounting the above story Mr. Crosthwaite remarks: +"This legend given by the Korkus of their creation bears a curious +analogy to our own belief as set forth in the Old Testament. They +even give the tradition of a flood, in which a crow plays the part of +Noah's dove. There is a most curious similarity between their belief +in this respect and that found in such distant and widely separated +parts as Otaheite and Siberia. Remembering our own name 'Adam,' which I +believe means in Hebrew 'made of red earth,' it is curious to observe +the stress that is laid in the legend on the necessity for finding +red earth for the making of man." Another story told by the Korkus +with the object of providing themselves with Rajput ancestry is to +the effect that their forefathers dwelt in the city of Dharanagar, +the modern Dhar. It happened one day that they were out hunting and +followed a sambhar stag, which fled on and on until it finally came +to the Mahadeo or Pachmarhi hills and entered a cave. The hunters +remained at the mouth waiting for the stag to come out, when a hermit +appeared and gave them a handful of rice. This they at once cooked +and ate as they were hungry from their long journey, and they found +to their surprise that the rice sufficed for the whole party to eat +their fill. The hermit then told them that he was the god Mahadeo, +and had assumed the form of a stag in order to lead them to these +hills, where they were to settle and worship him. They obeyed the +command of the god, and a Korku zamindar is still the hereditary +guardian of Mahadeo's shrine at Pachmarhi. This story has of course +no historical value, and the Korkus have simply stolen the city of +Dharanagar for their ancestral home from their neighbours the Bhoyars +and Panwars. These castes relate similar stories, which may in their +case be founded on fact. + + + + +3. Tribal subdivisions. + +As is usual among the forest tribes the Korkus formerly had a +subdivision called Raj-Korku, who were made up of landowning members of +the caste and were admitted to rank among those from whom a Brahman +would take water, while in some cases a spurious Rajput ancestry +was devised for them, as in the story given above. The remainder of +the tribe were called Potharia, or those to whom a certain dirty +habit is imputed. These main divisions have, however, become more +or less obsolete, and have been supplanted by four subcastes with +territorial names, Mowasi, Bawaria, Ruma and Bondoya. The meaning of +the term Mowasi has already been given, and this subcaste ranks as the +highest, probably owing to the gentlemanly calling of armed robbery +formerly practised by its members. The Bawarias are the dwellers in +the Bhanwargarh tract of Betul, the Rumas those who belong to Basim +and Gangra in the Amraoti District, and the Bondoyas the residents of +the Jitgarh and Pachmarhi tract. These last are also called Bhovadaya +and Bhopa, and this name has been corrupted into Bopchi in the Wardha +District, a few hundred Bondoya Korkus who live there being known +as Bopchi and considered a distinct caste. Except among the Mowasis, +who usually marry in their own subcaste, the rule of endogamy is not +strictly observed. The above description refers to Betul and Nimar, +but in Hoshangabad, Mr. Crosthwaite says: "Four-fifths of the Korkus +have been so affected by the spread of Brahmanical influence as to +have ceased to differ in any marked way from the Hindu element in the +population, and the Korku has become so civilised as to have learnt +to be ashamed of being a Korku." Each subcaste has traditionally 36 +exogamous septs, but the numbers have now increased. The sept names +are generally taken from those of plants and animals. These were no +doubt originally totemistic, but the Korkus now say that the names are +derived from trees and other articles in or behind which the ancestors +of each sept took refuge after being defeated in a great battle. Thus +the ancestor of the Atkul sept hid in a gorge, that of the Bhuri Rana +sept behind a dove's nest, that of the Dewda sept behind a rice plant, +that of the Jambu sept behind a jamun tree, [599] that of the Kasada +sept in the bed of a river, that of the Takhar sept behind a cucumber +plant, that of the Sakum sept behind a teak tree, and so on. Other +names are Banku or a forest-dweller; Bhurswa or Bhoyar, perhaps from +the caste of that name; Basam or Baoria, the god of beehives; and +Marskola or Mawasi, which the Korkus take to mean a field flooded by +rain. One sept has the name Killibhasam, and its ancestor is said to +have eaten the flesh of a heifer half-devoured by a tiger and parched +by a forest fire. In Hoshangabad the legend of the battle is not +known, and among the names given by Mr. Crosthwaite are Akandi, the +benighted one; Tandil, a rat; and Chuthar, the flying black-bug. In +a few cases the names of septs are Hindi or Marathi words, these +perhaps affording a trace of the foundation of separate families +by members of other castes. No totemistic usages are followed as a +rule, but one curious instance may be given. One sept has the name +lobo, which means a piece of cloth. But the word lobo also signifies +'to leak.' If a person says a sentence containing the word lobo in +either signification before a member of the sept while he is eating, +he will throw away the food before him as if it were contaminated and +prepare a meal afresh. Ten of the septs [600] consider the regular +marriage of girls to be inauspicious, and the members of these simply +give away their daughters without performing a ceremony. + + + + +4. Marriage Betrothal. + +Marriage between members of the same sept is prohibited and also the +union of first cousins. The preliminaries to a marriage commence with +the bali-dudna or arrangement of the match. The boy's father having +selected a suitable bride for his son sends two elders of the caste +to propose the match to her father, who as a matter of etiquette +invariably declines it, swearing with great oaths that he will not +allow his daughter to get married or that he will have a son-in-law +who will serve for her. The messengers depart, but return again and +again until the father's obduracy is overcome, which may take from six +months to two years, while from nine to twelve months is considered a +respectable period. When his consent is finally obtained the residents +of the girl's village are called to hear it, and the compact is sealed +with large potations of liquor. A ceremony of betrothal follows at +which the daij or dowry is arranged, this signifying among the Korkus +the compensation to be paid to the girl's father for the loss of her +services. It is computed by a curious system of symbolic higgling. The +women of the girl's party take two plates and place on them two +heaps containing respectively ten and fifty seeds of a sort used for +reckoning. The ten seeds on the first plate represent five rupees +for the panchayat and five cloths for the mother, brother, paternal +aunt and paternal and maternal uncles of the girl. The heap of fifty +seeds indicates that Rs. 50 must be paid to the girl's father. When +the plates are received by the boy's party they take away forty-five +of the seeds from the larger heap and return the plate, to indicate +that they will only pay five rupees to the girl's father. The women +add twenty-five seeds and send back the plate again. The men then take +away fifteen, thus advancing the bride-price to fifteen rupees. The +women again add twenty-five seeds and send back the plate, and the +men again take away twenty, and returning the remaining twenty which +are taken as the sum agreed upon, in addition to the five cloths +and five rupees for the panchayat. The total amount paid averages +about Rs. 60. Wealthy men sometimes refuse this payment or exchange a +bride for a bridegroom. The dowry should be paid before the wedding, +and in default of this the bridegroom's father is made not a little +uncomfortable at that festival. Should a betrothed girl die before +marriage, the dowry does not abate and the parents of the girl have +a right to stop her burial until it is paid. But if a father shows +himself hard to please and refuses eligible offers, or if a daughter +has fallen in love, as sometimes happens, she will leave her home +quietly some morning and betake herself to the house of the man of her +choice. If her young affections have not been engaged, she may select +of her own accord a protector whose circumstances and position make +him attractive, and preferably one whose mother is dead. Occasionally a +girl will install herself in the house of a man who does not want her, +and his position then is truly pitiable. He dare not turn her out as he +would be punished by the caste for his want of gallantry, and his only +course is to vacate his own house and leave her in possession. After +a time his relations represent to her that the man she wants has gone +on a journey and will not be back for a long time, and induce her to +return to the paternal abode. But such a case is very rare. + + + + +5. The marriage ceremony. + +The marriage ceremony resembles that of the Hindus but has one or two +special features. After the customary cleaning of the house which +should be performed on a Tuesday, the bridegroom is carried to the +heap of stones which represents Mutua Deo, and there the Bhumka or +priest invokes the various sylvan deities, offering to them the blood +of chickens. Again when he is dressed for the wedding the boy is given +a knife or dagger carrying a pierced lemon on the blade, and he and his +parents and relatives proceed to a ber [601] or wild plum tree. The +boy and his parents sit at the foot of the tree and are tied to it +with a thread, while the Bhumka again spills the blood of a fowl on +the roots of the tree and invokes the sun and moon, whom the Korkus +consider to be their ultimate ancestors. The ber fruit may perhaps +be selected as symbolising the red orb of the setting sun. The party +then dance round the tree. When the wedding procession is formed the +following ceremony takes place: A blanket is spread in the yard of +the house and the bridegroom and his elder brother's wife are made +to stand on it and embrace each other seven times. This may probably +be a survival of the modified system of polyandry still practised +by the Khonds, under which the younger brothers are allowed access +to the elder brother's wife until their own marriage. The ceremony +would then typify the cessation of this intercourse at the wedding of +the boy. The procession must reach the bride's village on a Monday, a +Wednesday or a Friday, a breach of this rule entailing a fine of Rs. 8 +on the boy's father. On arrival at the bride's village its progress is +barred by a rope stretched across the road by the bride's relatives, +who must be given two pice each before it is removed. The bridegroom +touches the marriage-shed with a bamboo fan. Next day the couple +are seated in the shed and covered with a blanket on to which water +is poured to symbolise the fertilising influence of rain. The groom +ties a necklace of beads to the girl's neck, and the couple are then +lifted up by the relatives and carried three times round the yard of +the house, while they throw yellow-coloured rice at each other. Their +clothes are tied together and they proceed to make an offering to Mutua +Deo. In Hoshangabad, Mr. Crosthwaite states, the marriage ceremony +is presided over by the bridegroom's aunt or other collateral female +relative. The bride is hidden in her father's house. The aunt then +enters carrying the bridegroom and searches for the bride. When the +bride is found the brother-in-law of the bridegroom takes her up, and +bride and bridegroom are then seated under a sheet. The rings worn on +the little finger of the right hand are exchanged under the sheet and +the clothes of the couple are knotted together. Then follow the sapta +padi or seven steps round the post, and the ceremony concludes with +a dance, a feast and an orgy of drunkenness. A priest takes no part +in a Korku marriage ceremony, which is a purely social affair. If +a man has only one daughter, or if he requires an assistant for his +cultivation, he often makes his prospective son-in-law serve for his +wife for a period varying from five to twelve years, the marriage +being then celebrated at the father-in-law's expense. If the boy runs +away with the girl before the end of his service, his parents have to +pay to the girl's father five rupees for each year of the unexpired +term. Marriage is usually adult, girls being wedded between the +ages of ten and sixteen and boys at about twenty. Polygamy is freely +practised by those who are well enough off to afford it, and instances +are known of a man having as many as twelve wives living. A man must +not marry his wife's younger sister if she is the widow of a member of +his own sept nor his elder brother's widow if she is his wife's elder +sister. Widow-marriage is allowed, and divorce may be effected by a +simple proclamation of the fact to the panchayat in a caste assembly. + + + + +6. Religion. + +The Korkus consider themselves as Hindus, and are held to have a better +claim to a place in the social structure of Hinduism than most of the +other forest tribes, as they worship the sun and moon which are Hindu +deities and also Mahadeo. In truth, however, their religion, like that +of many low Hindu castes, is almost purely animistic. The sun and moon +are their principal deities, the name for these luminaries in their +language being Gomaj, which is also the term for god or a god. The head +of each family offers a white she-goat and a white fowl to the sun +every third year, and the Korkus stand with the face to the sun when +beginning to sow, and perform other ceremonies with the face turned to +the east. The moon has no special observances, but as she is a female +deity she is probably considered to participate in those paid to the +sun. These gods are, however, scarcely expected to interest themselves +in the happenings of a Korku's daily life, and the local godlings who +are believed to regulate these are therefore propitiated with greater +fervour. The three most important village deities are Dongar Deo, +the god of the hills, who resides on the nearest hill outside the +village and is worshipped at Dasahra with offerings of cocoanuts, +limes, dates, vermilion and a goat; Mutua Deo, who is represented by a +heap of stones within the village and receives a pig for a sacrifice, +besides special oblations when disease and sickness are prevalent; +and Mata, the goddess of smallpox, to whom cocoanuts and sweetmeats, +but no animal sacrifices, are offered. + + + + +7. The Bhumka. + +The priests of the Korkus are of two kinds--Parihars and Bhumkas. The +Parihar may be any man who is visited with the divine afflatus +or selected as a mouthpiece by the deity; that is to say, a man +of hysterical disposition or one subject to epileptic fits. He +is more a prophet than a priest, and is consulted only on special +occasions. Parihars are also rare, but every village has its Bhumka, +who performs the regular sacrifices to the village gods and the +special ones entailed by disease or other calamities. On him devolves +the dangerous duty of keeping tigers out of the boundaries. When +a tiger visits the village the Bhumka repairs to Bagh Deo [602] +and makes an offering to the god, promising to repeat it for so +many years on condition that the tiger does not appear for that +time. The tiger on his part never fails to fulfil the contract thus +silently made, for he is pre-eminently an honourable upright beast, +not faithless and treacherous like the leopard whom no contract can +bind. Some Bhumkas, however, masters of the most powerful spells, +are not obliged to rely on the traditional honour of the tiger, but +compel his attendance before Bagh Deo; and such a Bhumka has been +seen as a very Daniel among tigers muttering his incantations over +two or three at a time as they crouched before him. Of one Bhumka in +Kalibhit it is related that he had a fine large saj tree, into which, +when he uttered his spells, he would drive a nail, and on this the +tiger came and ratified the compact with his enormous paw, with which +he deeply scored the bark. In this way some have lost their lives, +victims of misplaced confidence in their own powers. [603] If a man is +sick and it is desired to ascertain what god or spirit of an ancestor +has sent the malady, a handful of grain is waved over the sick man and +then carried to the Bhumka. He makes a heap of it on the floor, and, +sitting over it, swings a lighted lamp suspended by four strings from +his fingers. He then repeats slowly the name of the village deities and +the sick man's ancestors, pausing between each, and the name at which +the lamp stops swinging is that of the offended one. He then inquires +in a similar manner whether the propitiation shall be a pig, a chicken, +a goat, a cocoanut and so on. The office of Bhumka is usually, but not +necessarily, hereditary, and a new one is frequently chosen by lot, +this being also done when a new village is founded. All the villagers +then sit in a line before the shrine of Mutua Deo, to whom a black and +a white chicken are offered. The Parihar, or, if none be available, +the oldest man present, then sets a pai [604] rolling before the +line of men, and the person before whom it stops is marked out by +this intervention of the deity as the new Bhumka. When a new village +is to be founded a pai measure is filled with grain to a level with +the brim, but with no head (this being known as a mundi or bald pai), +and is placed before Mutua Deo in the evening and watched all night. In +the morning the grain is poured out and again replaced in the measure; +if it now fills this and also leaves enough for a head, and still more +if it brims and runs over, it is a sign that the village will be very +prosperous and that every cultivator's granaries will run over in the +same way. But it is an evil omen if the grain does not fill up to the +level of the rim of the measure. The explanation of the difference +in bulk may be that the grains increase or decrease slightly in size +according as the atmosphere is moist or dry, or perhaps the Bhumka +works the oracle. The Bhumka usually receives contributions in grain +from all the houses in the village; but occasionally each cultivator +gives him a day's ploughing, a day's weeding and a day's wood-cutting +free. The Bhumka is also employed in Hindu villages for the service +of the village gods. But the belief in the powers of these deities +is decaying, and with it the tribute paid to the Bhumka for securing +their favour. Whereas formerly he received substantial contributions +of grain on the same scale as a village menial, the cultivator will +now often put him off with a basketful or even a handful, and say, +'I cannot spare you any more, Bhumka; you must make all the gods +content with that.' In curing diseases the Parihar resorts to swindling +tricks. He will tell the sick man that a sacrifice is necessary, asking +for a goat if the patient can afford one. He will say it must be of a +particular colour, as all black, white or red, so that the sick man's +family may have much trouble in finding one, and they naturally think +the sacrifice is more efficacious in proportion to the difficulty +they experience in arranging for it. If they cannot afford a goat the +Parihar tells them to sacrifice a cock, and requires one whose feathers +curl backwards, as they occasionally do. If the family is very poor +any chicken which has come out of the shell, so long as it has a beak, +will do duty for a cock. If a man has a pain in his body the Parihar +will suck the place and produce small pieces of bone from his mouth, +stained with vermilion to imitate blood, and say that he has extracted +them from the patient's body. Perhaps the idea may be that the bones +have been caused to enter his body and make him ill by the practice +of magic. Formerly the Parihar had to prove his supernatural powers by +whipping himself on the back with a rope into which the ends of nails +were twisted, and to continue this ordeal for a period long enough +to satisfy the villagers that he could not have borne it without some +divine assistance. But this salutary custom has fallen into abeyance. + + + + +8. Magical practices. + +The Korkus have the same belief in the efficacy of imitative and +sympathetic magic as other primitive peoples. [605] Thus to injure an +enemy, a clay image of him is made and pierced with a knife, in the +belief that the real person will suffer in the same manner. If the +clay can be taken from a place where his foot has made an impression +in walking, or the image wrapped round with his hair, the charm +is more efficacious. Or an image may be made with charcoal on some +stolen portion of his apparel, and similarly wrapped in his hair; it +is then burnt in the belief that the real person will be attacked by +fever. Sometimes the image is buried in a place where it is likely +that the victim will walk over it, when the same result is hoped +for. In order to produce rain, a frog, as the animal delighting in the +element of water, is caught and slung on a stick; the boys and girls +then carry it from house to house and the householders pour water over +it. If it is desired to stop rain a frog is caught and buried alive, +this being done by a naked boy. Another device for producing rain +is to yoke two naked women to a plough, who are then driven across a +field like bullocks and goaded by a third naked woman. This device may +possibly be intended to cause the gods to send rain, by showing how +the natural order of the world is upset and reversed by the continued +drought. In order to stop rain an unmarried youth collects water in +a new earthen pot from the eaves and buries it below the hearth so +that the water may disappear by evaporation and the rain may cease +in the same manner. Another method is to send a man belonging to the +Kasada sept--Kasada meaning slime--to bring a plough from the field +and place it in his house. He also stops bathing or washing for the +period for which a break in the rains is required, and the idea is +perhaps that as the man whose name and nature are mud or slime is +dry so the mud on the earth will dry up; and as the plough is dry, +the ploughed fields which have been in contact with it will also +become dry. In order to produce a quarrel the quills of a porcupine +are smoked with the burnt parings of an enemy's nails and deposited in +the eaves of his house. And as the fretful porcupine raises his quills +when angry with an enemy, these will have the effect of causing strife +among the members of the household. If a person wishes to transfer his +sickness to another, he obtains the latter's cloth and draws on it with +lamp-black two effigies, one upright and the other upside down. As soon +as the owner puts on the cloth, he will fall a victim to the ailment +of the person who drew the effigies. In order to obtain children the +hair of a woman who has borne several is secured by a barren woman +and buried below her bathing-stone, when the quality of fertility +will be transferred to her from the owner of the hair. In order to +facilitate child-birth a twisted thread is untwined before the eyes of +the pregnant woman with the idea that the delivery will thus be made +direct and easy; or she is given water to drink in which her husband's +left leg, a gun-barrel, a pestle, or a thunder-bolt has been washed; +it being supposed that as each of these articles has the quality +of direct and powerful propulsion, this quality will be conveyed +to the woman and enable her to propel the child from her womb. The +Korkus also trust largely to omens. It is inauspicious when starting +out on some business to see a black-faced monkey or a hare passing +either on the left or right, or a snake crossing in front. A person +seeing any of these will usually return and postpone his business +to a more favourable occasion. It is a bad omen for a hen to cackle +or lay eggs at night. One sneeze is a bad omen, but two neutralise +the effect and are favourable. An empty pot is a bad omen and a full +one good. To break a pot when commencing any business is fatal, and +shows that the work will come to naught. Thursdays and Fridays are +favourable days for working, and Mondays and Tuesdays for propitiating +one's ancestors. Odd numbers are lucky. In order to lay to rest the +spirit of a dead person, who it is feared may trouble the living, +five pieces of bamboo are taken as representing the bones of the dead +man, and these with five crab's legs, five grains of rice and other +articles are put into a basket and thrust into a crab's hole under +water. The occasion is made an excuse for much feasting and drinking, +and the son or other representative who lays the spirit works himself +up into a state of drunken excitement before he enters the water to +search for a suitable hole. The fat of a tiger is considered to be an +excellent medicine for rheumatism and sprains, and much store is set by +it. The tiger's tongue is also supposed to be a very powerful tonic or +strengthening medicine for weakly children. It is cooked, pounded up, +and a small quantity administered in milk or water. When a tiger has +been killed the Gonds and Korkus will singe off his whiskers, as they +think this will prevent the tiger's spirit from haunting them. Another +idea is that the whiskers if chopped up and mixed in the food of an +enemy will poison him. They frequently object to touch a man who has +been injured or mauled by a tiger, as they think that to do so would +bring down the tiger's vengeance on them. And in some places any Gond +or Korku who touches a man mauled by a tiger is put temporarily out +of caste and has to be purified and give a feast on readmission. + + + + +9. Funeral rites. + +The dead are usually buried, two pice being first thrown into the +grave to buy the site. The body is laid on its back, naked and with +the head pointing to the south. The earth is mixed with briars and +thorns while being filled in so as to keep off hyenas, and stones +are placed over the grave. No fixed period of mourning is observed, +but after the lapse of some days, the deceased's family or relatives +go to the burial-place, taking with them a piece of turmeric. This +they cut into strips, and, placing them in a leaf-cup, pour water +over them. As the water falls on the tomb, a god is called to witness +that this day the dead man's spirit has been sent to live with the +ancestors. The pieces of turmeric are then tied in a cloth which, +after receiving an oblation of fowl's blood, is suspended from the +main beam of the house, this being considered the dwelling-place of +the departed. This ceremony, called Pitar Miloni, is the first rite +for the admission of the deceased with the spirits of his ancestors, +and is preliminary to the final ceremony of Sedoli which may be +performed at any time between four months and fifteen years after +the death. But until it is complete the spirit of the deceased has +not been laid finally to rest and has the power of sending aches and +pains to molest the bodies of its living relatives. Each sept has a +place in which the Sedoli rites must be performed, and however far +the Korku may have wandered from the original centre of his tribe, +he must return there to set his father's spirit at rest and enable it +to join the ancestral ghosts. When the Sedoli is to be performed an +unblemished teak or salai [606] tree is selected and wrapped round with +a thread, while seven circuits of it are made and a bottle of liquor +and two pice are offered as purchase money. It is then cut down and +brought home, and from it a smooth stake called munda is fashioned, +24 to 30 inches high, and squared or pointed at the top, often being +arrow-headed. On it are carved representations of the sun and moon, +a spider and a human ear, and below these a figure representing the +principal person in whose honour the stake is erected, on horseback +with weapons in his hand. The proper method is to have one munda for +each ancestor, but poor persons make one do for several and their +figures are then carved below. But care must be taken that the total +number of figures representing the dead does not exceed that of the +members of the family who have died during the period for which the +Sedoli is performed. For in that case another person is likely to die +for each extra figure. The little bags of turmeric representing the +ancestors are then taken from the main beam of the house and carried +with the munda to the burial-place. There a goat is sacrificed and +these articles are besmeared with its blood, after which a feast is +held accompanied by singing and dancing. Next day the party again go +to the burial-place and plant the munda in it, placing two pice in +the hole beneath it. They then proceed to the riverside, and, making a +little ball from the flesh of the sacrificed animal, place it together +with the bags of turmeric on a leaf platter, and throw the whole into +the river saying, 'Ancestors, find your home.' If the ball sinks at +once they consider that the ancestors have been successful, but if +any delay takes place, they attribute it to the difficulty experienced +by the ancestors in the selection of a home and throw in two pice to +assist them. The pith of a bamboo may be substituted for turmeric to +represent the bones. The dead are supposed to inhabit a village of +their own similar to that in which they dwelt on earth and to lead +there a colourless existence devoid alike of pleasure and of pain. + + + + +10. Appearance and social customs. + +The following description of the Korkus is given by Major Forsyth +in the Nimar Settlement Report of 1868-69, with the addition of +some remarks made by other observers. The Korkus are well built and +muscular. The average Korku has a round face, a nose rather wide but +not flat like a negro's, prominent cheek-bones, a scanty moustache +and his head shaved after the Hindu fashion. They are slightly taller +than the Gond, a shade darker and a good many shades dirtier. In +the wilder parts one may come across some quite too awful Korkus, +from whom an intervening space of fifty yards is an insufficient +protection, though strange to say there are no less than six words +in their language which mean 'to wash'; one to wash the whole body, +one the limbs, one for the face, one for the mouth, one for the hair +and one for the clothes, besides a word for scouring the body with a +stone and another word for bathing in a stream. Their habitations on +the other hand present quite a contrast to their individual want of +cleanliness. They build their villages of a close bamboo wattle-work +and with almost Swisslike neatness, a picturesque site being usually +chosen, and the plan being one long street with a wide open roadway, +or several such parallel with each other. The villages are kept +remarkably clean, in striking contrast to the habitations of other +aboriginal tribes. The average village contains about twenty huts, +and it is the custom to bind these so closely together that forest +fires often sweep through a whole village before a hut can be removed +to check their course. The average hut is about fifteen feet square +with a rather flat roof covered with loose grass over a layer of leaves +and pressed down by outside poles. No nails are required as the posts +are bound firmly together with bamboo or creeper fibre. The inmates +generally sleep on the ground, and a few low stools carved from teak +wood serve them for pillows. Every village has a few pigs and fowls +running about, both of which are eaten after being sacrificed. The +Korku is an adept in the crude process of distillation in which +the only apparatus required consists of two gharas or earthen pots, +a hollow bamboo, some mahua flowers, water and a fire. By this means +the Korku manages to produce liquor upon which he can effectually get +drunk. They are by no means particular about what they eat. Fowls, +pork, fish, crabs and tortoise are all consumed, and beef and rats +are eaten in some localities but not in others. The Ruma and Bondoya +Korkus eat buffaloes, and the latter add monkeys to an already +comprehensive dietary. The lowest caste with whom they are said +to eat are Kolis. They do not eat with Gonds. Gonds, Mangs, Basors +and a few other low castes take food from them and also, it is said, +Bhils. The Korkus will freely admit members of the higher castes into +the community, and a woman incurs no social penalty for a liaison +with a member of any caste from which a Korku can take food. But +if she goes wrong with a low-caste man she is permanently expelled +and a fine of Rs. 40 is exacted from the parents before they are +readmitted to social intercourse. In the case of adultery with a +member of the caste, if the husband does not wish to keep his wife, +the offending parties have a lock of hair cut off and give a dinner, +and are then considered to be married. But if the husband does not +turn his wife away, he, on his wife's account, and the seducer must +give a joint dinner to the caste. They have a tribal council or +panchayat which inflicts the usual penalties for social offences, +while in very serious cases, such as intercourse with a low caste, +it causes the offender to be born again. He is placed inside a large +earthen pot which is sealed up, and when taken out of this he is +said to be born again from his mother's womb. He is then buried in +sand and comes out as a fresh incarnation from the earth, placed in +a grass hut which is fired, and from within which he runs out as +it is burning, immersed in water, and finally has a tuft cut from +his scalp-lock and is fined two and a half rupees. The Korkus as a +race are very poor, and a poor Korku manages to exist with even less +clothing than a poor Gond. A loincloth of the scantiest and a wisp +of turban coiled on the top of the head and leaving the centre of the +skull uncovered form his complete costume for dry weather. Sometimes +a large brass chain is worn in the turban or attached to the waist, +and to it are suspended a flint and steel and a small dry gourd full +of cotton--the implements for obtaining fire. It is also common to +wear a large brass ring in one ear. A special habit of the Korku in +Nimar, Major Forsyth states, is to carry a small bamboo flute behind +the ear like a pen, from which he discourses a not unpleasant strain, +chiefly when drunk or engaged in propitiating Bagh Deo, Devi or any +other dread power whom he reverences. The women as a rule wear only +a dirty white sari and are loaded with cheap ornaments. Necklaces of +beads are worn on the neck, covering the chest, while the arms and +legs are weighed down with brass and iron. + + + + +11. Character. + +Like most hill tribes the Korkus are remarkably honest and truthful, +slow at calculation and very indignant at being cheated. They are +very improvident and great drunkards, and it is the latter habit +which has aggravated the obstacles to their improvement. + + + + +12. Inheritance. + +The Korku law of inheritance differs somewhat from that of the +Hindus. Among them a grandson does not inherit the property of his +grandfather unless it is openly and clearly granted to him during +the latter's lifetime. A married son living separately from his +father has no right of succession to the paternal property, but if +he is unmarried, he receives half the share of a son who is living +with his father. A daughter or a daughter's son does not inherit the +father's property unless it is granted to either of them by a deed +of gift. The sons and mother share equally. + + + + +13. Occupation. + +The Korkus formerly lived principally by hunting, and practised the +shifting cultivation in the forests which is now forbidden. Very few +of them are landowners, but some large zamindari estates in Hoshangabad +and Chhindwara are held by Korku proprietors, who are protected by the +prohibition of alienation. Though too improvident and lazy to be good +cultivators, they are in great request as farmservants and ploughmen, +being too honest to defraud their master of labour or material. A +remarkable change has thus taken place from their former character of +notorious robbers. They cultivate mainly in the hilly tracts and grow +light grains, though some have colonised the waste lands of the upper +Tapti valley in Nimar and raise good crops of wheat. They do not as +a rule keep cattle other than the few oxen required for cultivating +the soil and hauling out timber. Game of all kinds is caught by means +of heavy log traps for the larger varieties such as sambhar, bear +and spotted deer and even leopard; while hares, jungle-fowl and the +smaller sort of game are caught under heavy stones held up by nicely +adjusted strings. Occasionally, when in search of meat, a whole village +will sally out into the forest. The shikari has generally a matchlock +concealed in some hiding-place in the jungle, and once he is posted the +others beat towards him and any animal that turns up is shot at. In +the hot weather the water-hole and the bow and arrow play no small +part in helping to fill the Korku larder. Another method of catching +birds is to spread the pounded fruit of a certain parasitic airplant +on a rock. A thick shining gum exudes which so entangles the feet of +the smaller birds as to prevent their escape. Fish dams are built when +the water subsides after the rains, and a cylindrical basket six or +eight feet in length being adjusted at the outlet, the fish are driven +into this from above. During the hot season the fruit of the ghetu +is thrown into the pools, and this stupefies the fish and causes them +to float on the surface of the water, where they are easily caught. + + + + +14. Language. + +The Korkus have a language of their own which belongs to the Kolarian +or Munda sub-family. Dr. Grierson says of it: "The Munda, sometimes +called the Kolarian family, is probably the older branch of the +Dravido-Munda languages. It exhibits the characteristics of an +agglutinative language to an extraordinarily complete degree." In +the Central Provinces nearly 90 per cent of Korkus were returned +as speaking their own language in 1911. Mr. Crosthwaite remarks: +"The language is in a state of decay and transition, and Hindi and +Marathi terms have crept into its vocabulary. But very few Gondi words +have been adopted. A grammar of the Korku language by Drake has been +printed at the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta." + + + + + + +KORWA + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice. + 2. Physical appearance. + 3. Subdivisions. + 4. Marriage customs. + 5. Funeral rites. + 6. Religion. + 7. Social customs. + 8. Dancing. + 9. Occupation. + 10. Dacoity. + 11. Folk-tales. + + + + +1. General notice. + +Korwa. [607]--A Kolarian tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau. In 1911 +about 34,000 Korwas were returned in the Central Provinces, the great +bulk of whom belong to the Sarguja and Jashpur States and a few to the +Bilaspur District. The Korwas are one of the wildest tribes. Colonel +Dalton writes of them: [608] "Mixed up with the Asuras and not greatly +differing from them, except that they are more cultivators of the +soil than smelters, we first meet the Korwas, a few stragglers of the +tribe which under that name take up the dropped links of the Kolarian +chain, and carry it on west, over the Sarguja, Jashpur and Palamau +highlands till it reaches another cognate tribe, the Kurs (Korkus) +or Muasis of Rewah and the Central Provinces, and passes from the +Vindhyan to the Satpura range. + +"In the fertile valleys that skirt and wind among the plateaus other +tribes are now found intermixed with the Korwas, but all admit that +the latter were first in the field and were at one time masters of the +whole; and we have good confirmatory proof of their being the first +settlers in the fact that for the propitiation of the local spirits +Korwa Baigas are always selected. There were in existence within the +last twenty years, as highland chiefs and holders of manors, four Korwa +notables, two in Sarguja and two in Jashpur; all four estates were +valuable, as they comprised substantial villages in the fertile plains +held by industrious cultivators, and great tracts of hill country on +which were scattered the hamlets of their more savage followers. The +Sarguja Korwa chiefs were, however, continually at strife with the +Sarguja Raja, and for various acts of rebellion against the Lord +Paramount lost manor after manor till to each but one or two villages +remained. The two Jashpur thanes conducted themselves right loyally at +the crucial period of the Mutiny and they are now prosperous gentlemen +in full enjoyment of their estates, the only Korwa families left that +keep up any appearance of respectability. One of them is the hereditary +Diwan of Jashpur, lord of the mountain tract of Khuria and Maini, +and chief of perhaps two-thirds of the whole tribe of Korwas. The +other holds an estate called Kakia comprising twenty-two villages. + + + + +2. Physical appearance. + +"The hill Korwas are the most savage-looking of all the Kolarian +tribes. They are frightfully wild and uncouth in their appearance, +and have good-humouredly accepted the following singular tradition to +account for it. They say that the first human beings that settled in +Sarguja, being very much troubled by the depredations of wild beasts on +their crops, put up scarecrows in their fields, figures made of bamboos +dangling in the air, the most hideous caricatures of humanity that they +could devise to frighten the animals. When the great spirit saw the +scarecrow he hit on an expedient to save his votaries the trouble of +reconstructing them. He animated the dangling figures, thus bringing +into existence creatures ugly enough to frighten all the birds and +beasts in creation, and they were the ancestors of the wild Korwas." + +This legend is not peculiar to the Korwas but is also told by the +Halbas, Lodhis and other castes, and is a favourite Brahmanical device +for accounting for the existence of the autochthonous tribes. + +"The Korwas," Dalton continues, "are short of stature and dark brown in +complexion, strongly built and active, with good muscular development, +but, as appeared to me, disproportionately short-legged. The +average height of twenty Sarguja Korwas that I measured was 5 feet 3 +inches and of their women 4 feet 9 inches only. Notwithstanding the +scarecrow tradition the Korwas are, as a rule, better-looking than +the Gonds and Oraons. The males, I noticed, were more hirsute than +the generality of their cognates, many of them cultivating beards or +rather not interfering with their spontaneous growth, for in truth in +their toilets there is nothing like cultivation. They are as utterly +ungroomed as the wildest animals. The neglected back hair grows in +matted tails which fall behind like badly-frayed ropes, or is massed +in a chignon of gigantic proportions, as preposterous as any that the +present tasteless period has produced; sticking out behind sometimes +a foot from the back of the head. + +"The women appear ground down by the hard work imposed on them, stunted +in growth, black, ugly, and wretchedly clad, some having only a few +dirty rags tied round their persons, and in other respects untidy +and unclean." + +It is noticeable that the Korwas have a subtribe called Koraku, +and like the Korkus of the Satpura range they are called Muasi, a +term having the meaning of raider or robber. Mr. Crooke thinks that +the Korwas and Korkus are probably branches of the same tribe, but +Sir G. Grierson dissents from this opinion. He states that the Korwa +dialect is most closely related to Asuri and resembles Mundari and +Santali. The Korwas have the honorific title of Manjhi, also used by +the Santals. The Korba zamindari in Bilaspur is probably named after +the Korwas. + + + + +3. Subdivisions. + +The principal subdivisions of the tribe are the Diharia or Kisan +Korwas, those who live in villages (dih) and cultivate, and the +Paharia Korwas of the hills, who are also called Benwaria from their +practising bewar or shifting cultivation. Two minor groups are the +Koraku or young men, from kora, a young man, and the Birjias, who +are probably the descendants of mixed marriages between Korwas and +the tribe of that name, themselves an offshoot of the Baigas. The +tribe is also divided into totemistic exogamous septs. + + + + +4. Marriage customs. + +Marriage within the sept is forbidden, but this appears to be the only +restriction. In Korba the Paharia Korwas are said to marry their own +sisters on occasion. The ordinary bride-price is Rs. 12. In Bilaspur +there is reported to be no regular marriage feast, but the people dance +together round a big earthen drum, called mandhar, which is played in +the centre. This is bound with strips of leather along the sides and +leather faces at the ends to be played on by the hands. They dance in +a circle taking hands, men and women being placed alternately. Among +the Paharia Korwas of Sarguja, Mr. Kunte states, the consent of +the parents is not required, and boys and girls arrange their own +weddings. Men who can afford the bride-price have a number of wives, +sometimes as many as eight or ten. After she has had a child each +wife lives and cooks her food separately, but gives a part of it to +her husband. The women bring roots and herbs from the forest and feed +their husbands, so that the man with several wives enjoys a larger +share of creature comforts. Among these people adultery is said to be +very rare, but if a woman is detected in adultery she is at once made +over to the partner of her act and becomes his wife. Divorce and the +remarriage of widows are permitted, and a widow usually marries her +late husband's younger brother, though she is not obliged to do so. A +husband divorcing his wife is obliged to feed the caste for five days. + + + + +5. Funeral rites. + +The tribe bury the dead, placing the corpse in the grave with the head +to the south. A little rice is buried with the corpse. In Bilaspur the +dead are buried in the forest, and the graves of old men are covered +with branches of the sal [609] tree. Then they go to a little distance +and make a fire, and pour ghi and incense on it as an offering to the +ancestors, and when they hear a noise in the forest they take it to +be the voice of the dead man. When a man dies his hut is broken down +and they do not live in it again. The bodies of children under five +are buried either in the house or under the shade of a banyan tree, +probably with the idea that the spirit will come back and be born +again. They say that a banyan tree is chosen because it lives longest +of all trees and is evergreen, and hence it is supposed that the +child's spirit will also live out its proper span instead of being +untimely cut off in its next birth. + + + + +6. Religion. + +The Korwas worship Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god of the Gonds, and in +Sarguja their principal deity is Khuria Rani, the tutelary goddess of +the Khuria plateau. She is a bloodthirsty goddess and requires animal +sacrifices; formerly at special sacrifices 30 or 40 buffaloes were +slaughtered as well as an unlimited number of goats. [610] Thakur Deo, +who is usually considered a corn-god, dwells in a sacred grove, of +which no tree or branch may be cut or broken. The penalty for breach +of the rules is a goat, but an exception is allowed if an animal has +to be pursued and killed in the grove. Thakur Deo protects the village +from epidemic disease such as cholera and smallpox. The Korwas have +three festivals: the Deothan is observed on the full moon day of Pus +(December), and all their gods are worshipped; the Nawanna or harvest +festival falls in Kunwar (September), when the new grain is eaten; +and the Faguwa or Holi is the common celebration of the spring and +the new vegetation. + + + + +7. Social customs. + +The Korwas do not admit outsiders into the tribe. They will take food +from a Gond or Kawar, but not from a Brahman. A man is permanently +expelled from caste for a liaison with a woman of the impure Ganda +and Ghasia castes, and a woman for adultery with any person other +than a Korwa. Women are tattooed with patterns of dots on the arms, +breasts and feet, and a girl must have this operation done before +she can be married. Neither men nor women ever cut their hair. + + + + +8. Dancing. + +Of their appearance at a dance Colonel Dalton states: [611] "Forming +a huge circle, or rather coil, they hooked on to each other and +wildly danced. In their hands they sternly grasped their weapons, +the long stiff bow and arrows with bright, broad, barbed heads and +spirally-feathered reed shafts in the left hand, and the gleaming +battle-axe in the right. Some of the men accompanied the singing on +deep-toned drums and all sang. A few scantily-clad females formed +the inner curl of the coil, but in the centre was the Choragus who +played on a stringed instrument, promoting by his grotesque motions +unbounded hilarity, and keeping up the spirit of the dancers by his +unflagging energy. Their matted back hair was either massed into a +chignon, sticking out from the back of the head like a handle, from +which spare arrows depended hanging by the bands, or was divided +into clusters of long matted tails, each supporting a spare arrow, +which, flinging about as they sprang to the lively movements of +the dance, added greatly to the dramatic effect and the wildness of +their appearance. The women were very diminutive creatures, on the +average a foot shorter than their lords, clothed in scanty rags, +and with no ornaments except a few tufts of cotton dyed red taking +the place of flowers in the hair, a common practice also with the +Santal girls. Both tribes are fond of the flower of the cockscomb +for this purpose, and when that is not procurable, use the red cotton." + +They dance the karma dance in the autumn, thinking that it will procure +them good crops, the dance being a kind of ritual or service and +accompanied by songs in praise of the gods. If the rains fail they +dance every night in the belief that the gods will be propitiated +and send rain. + + + + +9. Occupation. + +Of their occupation Colonel Dalton states: "The Korwas cultivate newly +cleared ground, changing their homesteads every two or three years to +have command of virgin soil. They sow rice that ripens in the summer, +vetches, millets, pumpkins, cucumbers--some of gigantic size--sweet +potatoes, yams and chillies. They also grow and prepare arrowroot and +have a wild kind which they use and sell. They have as keen a knowledge +of what is edible among the spontaneous products of the jungle as have +monkeys, and have often to use this knowledge for self-preservation, +as they are frequently subjected to failure of crops, while even in +favourable seasons some of them do not raise sufficient for the year's +consumption; but the best of this description of food is neither +palatable nor wholesome. They brought to me nine different kinds of +edible roots, and descanted so earnestly on the delicate flavour and +nutritive qualities of some of them, that I was induced to have two +or three varieties cooked under their instructions and served up, but +the result was far from pleasant; my civilised stomach indignantly +repelled the savage food, and was not pacified till it had made me +suffer for some hours from cold sweat, sickness and giddiness." [612] + + + + +10. Dacoity. + +The Korwas in the Tributary States have other resources than +these. They are expert hunters, and to kill a bird flying or an +animal running is their greatest delight. They do not care to kill +their game without rousing it first. They are also very fond of +dacoity and often proceed on expeditions, their victims being usually +travellers, or the Ahirs who bring large herds of cattle to graze in +the Sarguja forests. These cattle do much damage to the village crops, +and hence the Korwas have a standing feud with the herdsmen. They +think nothing of murder, and when asked why he committed a murder, +a Korwa will reply, 'I did it for my pleasure'; but they despise both +house-breaking and theft as cowardly offences, and are seldom or never +guilty of them. The women are also of an adventurous disposition +and often accompany their husbands on raids. Before starting they +take the omens. They throw some rice before a chicken, and if the +bird picks up large solid grains first they think that a substantial +booty is intended, but if it chooses the thin and withered grains +that the expedition will have poor results. One of their bad omens +is that a child should begin to cry before the expedition starts; +and Mr. Kunte, who has furnished the above account, relates that on +one occasion when a Korwa was about to start on a looting expedition +his two-year-old child began to cry. He was enraged at the omen, and +picking up the child by the feet dashed its brains out against a stone. + + + + +11. Folk-tales. + +Before going out hunting the Korwas tell each other hunting tales, +and they think that the effect of doing this is to bring them success +in the chase. A specimen of one of these tales is as follows: There +were seven brothers and they went out hunting. The youngest brother's +name was Chilhra. They had a beat, and four of them lay in ambush +with their bows and arrows. A deer came past Chilhra and he shot +an arrow at it, but missed. Then all the brothers were very angry +with Chilhra and they said to him, "We have been wandering about +hungry for the whole day, and you have let our prey escape." Then +the brothers got a lot of mahul [613] fibre and twisted it into rope, +and from the rope they wove a bag. And they forced Chilhra into this +bag, and tied up the mouth and threw it into the river where there +was a whirlpool. Then they went home. Now Chilhra's bag was spinning +round and round in the whirlpool when suddenly a sambhar stag came +out of the forest and walked down to the river to drink opposite the +pool. Chilhra cried out to the sambhar to pull his bag ashore and +save him. The sambhar took pity on him, and seizing the bag in his +teeth pulled it out of the water on to the bank. Chilhra then asked +the sambhar after he had quenched his thirst to free him from the +bag. The sambhar drank and then came and bit through the mahul ropes +till Chilhra could get out. He then proposed to the sambhar to try +and get into the bag to see if it would hold him. The sambhar agreed, +but no sooner had he got inside than Chilhra tied up the bag, threw +it over his shoulder and went home. When the brothers saw him they +were greatly astonished, and asked him how he had got out of the bag +and caught a sambhar, and Chilhra told them. Then they killed and ate +the sambhar. Then all the brothers said to Chilhra that he should tie +them up in bags as he had been tied and throw them into the river, +so that they might each catch and bring home a sambhar. So they made +six bags and went to the river, and Chilhra tied them up securely and +threw them into the river, when they were all quickly drowned. But +Chilhra went home and lived happily ever afterwards. + +In this story we observe the low standard of moral feeling noticeable +among many primitive races, in the fact that the ingratitude displayed +by Chilhra in deceiving and killing the sambhar who had saved his life +conveys no shock to the moral sense of the Korwas. If the episode had +been considered discreditable to the hero Chilhra, it would not have +found a place in the tale. + +The following is another folk-tale of the characteristic type of +fairy story found all over the world. This as well as the last has +been furnished by Mr. Narbad Dhanu Sao, Assistant Manager, Uprora: + +A certain rich man, a banker and moneylender (Sahu), had twelve +sons. He got them all married and they went out on a journey to +trade. There came a holy mendicant to the house of the rich man and +asked for alms. The banker was giving him alms, but the saint said +he would only take them from his son or son's wife. As his sons were +away the rich man called his daughter-in-law, and she began to give +alms to the saint. But he caught her up and carried her off. Then +her father-in-law went to search for her, saying that he would not +return until he had found her. He came to the saint's house upon a +mountain and said to him, 'Why did you carry off my son's wife?' The +saint said to him, 'What can you do?' and turned him into stone by +waving his hand. Then all the other brothers went in turn to search +for her down to the youngest, and all were turned into stone. At last +the youngest brother set out to search but he did not go to the saint, +but travelled across the sea and sat under a tree on the other side. In +that tree was the nest with young of the Raigidan and Jatagidan [614] +birds. A snake was climbing up the tree to eat the nestlings, and the +youngest brother saw the snake and killed it. When the parent birds +returned the young birds said, "We will not eat or drink till you +have rewarded this boy who killed the snake which was climbing the +tree to devour us." Then the parent birds said to the boy, 'Ask of +us whatever you will and we will give it to you.' And the boy said,' +I want only a gold parrot in a gold cage.' Then the parent birds said, +"You have asked nothing of us, ask for something more; but if you +will accept only a gold parrot in a gold cage wait here a little +and we will fly across the sea and get it for you." So they brought +the parrot and cage, and the youngest brother took them and went +home. Immediately the saint came to him and asked him for the gold +parrot and cage because the saint's soul was in that parrot. Then the +youngest brother told him to dance and he would give him the parrot; +and the saint danced, and his legs and arms were broken one after the +other, as often as he asked for the parrot and cage. Then the youngest +brother buried the saint's body and went to his house and passed his +hands before all the stone images and they all came to life again. + + + + + + +KOSHTI + + +List of Paragraphs + + 1. General notice. + 2. Subdivisions. + 3. Marriage. + 4. Funeral customs. + 5. Religion. + 6. Superstitions. + 7. Clothes, etc. + 8. Social rules and status. + 9. Occupation. + + + + +1. General notice. + +Koshti, Koshta, Salewar. [615]--The Maratha and Telugu caste of +weavers of silk and fine cotton cloth. They belong principally to +the Nagpur and Chhattisgarh Divisions of the Central Provinces, where +they totalled 157,000 persons in 1901, while 1300 were returned from +Berar. Koshti is the Marathi and Salewar the Telugu name. Koshti may +perhaps have something to do with kosa or tasar silk; Salewar is said +to be from the Sanskrit Salika, a weaver, [616] and to be connected +with the common word sari, the name for a woman's cloth; while the +English 'shawl' may be a derivative from the same root. The caste +suppose themselves to be descended from the famous Saint Markandi +Rishi, who, they say, first wove cloth from the fibres of the lotus +flower to clothe the nakedness of the gods. In reward for this he +was married to the daughter of Surya, the sun, and received with +her as dowry a giant named Bhavani and a tiger. But the giant was +disobedient, and so Markandi killed him, and from his bones fashioned +the first weaver's loom. [617] The tiger remained obedient to Markandi, +and the Koshtis think that he still respects them as his descendants; +so that if a Koshti should meet a tiger in the forest and say the name +of Markandi, the tiger will pass by and not molest him; and they say +that no Koshti has ever been killed by a tiger. On their side they +will not kill or injure a tiger, and at their weddings the Bhat or +genealogist brings a picture of a tiger attached to his sacred scroll, +known as Padgia, and the Koshtis worship the picture. A Koshti will +not join in a beat for tiger for the same reason; and other Hindus say +that if he did the tiger would single him out and kill him, presumably +in revenge for his breaking the pact of peace between them. They also +worship the Singhwahini Devi, or Devi riding on a tiger, from which it +may probably be deduced that the tiger itself was formerly the deity, +and has now developed into an anthropomorphic goddess. + + + + +2. Subdivisions. + +The caste have several subdivisions of different types. The Halbis +appear to be an offshoot of the primitive Halba tribe, who have taken +to weaving; the Lad Koshtis come from Gujarat, the Gadhewal from Garha +or Jubbulpore, the Deshkar and Martha from the Maratha country, while +the Dewangan probably take their name from the old town of that name +on the Wardha river. The Patwis are dyers, and colour the silk thread +which the weavers use to border their cotton cloth. It is usually dyed +red with lac. They also make braid and sew silk thread on ornaments +like the separate Patwa caste. And the Onkule are the offspring +of illegitimate unions. In Berar there is a separate subcaste named +Hatghar, which may be a branch of the Dhangar or shepherd caste. Berar +also has a group known as Jain Koshtis, who may formerly have professed +the Jain religion, but are now strict Sivites. [618] The Salewars are +said to be divided into the Sutsale or thread-weavers, the Padmasale +or those who originally wove the lotus flower and the Sagunsale, +a group of illegitimate descent. The above names show that the caste +is of mixed origin, containing a large Telugu element, while a body +of the primitive Halbas has been incorporated into it. Many of the +Maratha Koshtis are probably Kunbis (cultivators) who have taken up +weaving. The caste has also a number of exogamous divisions of the +usual type which serve to prevent the marriage of near relatives. + + + + +3. Marriage. + +At a Koshti wedding in Nagpur, the bride and bridegroom with their +parents sit in a circle, and round them a long hempen rope is +drawn seven times; the bride's mother then holds a lamp, while the +bridegroom's mother pours water from a vessel on to the floor. The +Salewars perform the wedding ceremony at the bridegroom's house, to +which the bride is brought at midnight for this purpose. A display of +fireworks is held and the thun or log of wood belonging to the loom +is laid on the ground between the couple and covered with a black +blanket. The bridegroom stands facing the east and places his right +foot on the thun, and the bride stands opposite to him with her left +foot upon it. A Brahman holds a curtain between them and they throw +rice upon each other's heads five times and then sit on the log. The +bride's father washes the feet of the bridegroom and gives him a cloth +and bows down before him. The wedding party then proceed with music +and a display of fireworks to the bridegroom's house and a round of +feasts is given continuously for five days. + +The remarriage of widows is freely permitted. In Chanda if the widow +is living with her father he receives Rs. 40 from the second husband, +but if with her father-in-law no price is given. On the day fixed for +the wedding he fills her lap with nuts, cocoanuts, dates and rice, +and applies vermilion to her forehead. During the night she proceeds +to her new husband's house, and, emptying the fruit from her lap into +a dish which he holds, falls at his feet. The wedding is completed +the next day by a feast to the caste-fellows. The procedure appears +to have some symbolical idea of transferring the fruit of her womb to +her new husband. Divorce is allowed, but is very rare, a wife being +too valuable a helper in the Koshti's industry to be put away except +as a last resort. For a Koshti who is in business on his own account +it is essential to have a number of women to assist in sizing the +thread and fixing it on the loom. A wife is really a factory-hand +and a well-to-do Koshti will buy or occasionally steal as many women +as he can. In Bhandara a recent case is known where a man bought +a girl and married her to his son and eight months afterwards sold +her to another family for an increased price. In another case a man +mortgaged his wife as security for a debt and in lieu of interest, and +she lived with his creditor until he paid off the principal. Quarrels +over women not infrequently result in cases of assault and riot. + + + + +4. Funeral customs. + +Members of the Lingayat and Kabirpanthi sects bury their dead and +the others cremate them. With the Tirmendar Koshtis on the fifth +day the Ayawar priest goes to the cremation-ground accompanied +by the deceased's family and worships the image of Vishnu and the +Tulsi or basil upon the grave; and after this the whole party take +their food at the place. Mourning is observed during five days for +married and three for unmarried persons; and when a woman has lost +her husband she is taken on the fifth day to the bank of some river +or tank and her bangles are broken, her bead necklace is taken off, +the vermilion is rubbed off her forehead, and her foot ornaments +are removed; and these things she must not wear again while she is +a widow. On the fourth day the Panch or caste elders come and place +a new turban on the head of the chief mourner or deceased's heir; +they then take him round the bazar and seat him at his loom, where he +weaves a little. After this he goes and sits with the Panch and they +take food together. This ceremony indicates that the impurity caused +by the death is removed, and the mourners return to common life. The +caste do not perform the shraddh ceremony, but on the Akhatij day +or commencement of the agricultural year a family which has lost a +male member will invite a man from some other family of the caste, +and one which has lost a female member a woman, and will feed the +guest with good food in the name of the dead. In Chhindwara during +the fortnight of Pitripaksh or the worship of ancestors, a Koshti +family will have a feast and invite guests of the caste. Then the +host stands in the doorway with a pestle and as the guest comes he +bars his entrance, saying: 'Are you one of my ancestors; this feast +is for my ancestors?' To which the guest will reply: 'Yes, I am your +great-grandfather; take away the pestle.' By this ingenious device +the resourceful Koshti combines the difficult filial duty of the +feeding of his ancestors with the entertainment of his friends. + + + + +5. Religion. + +The principal deity of the Koshtis is Gajanand or Ganpati, whom they +revere on the festival of Ganesh Chathurthi or the fourth day of the +month of Bhadon (August). They clean all their weaving implements and +worship them and make an image of Ganpati in cowdung to which they +make offerings of flowers, rice and turmeric. On this day they do not +work and fast till evening, when the image of Ganpati is thrown into +a tank and they return home and eat delicacies. Some of them observe +the Tij or third day of every month as a fast for Ganpati, and when +the moon of the fourth day rises they eat cakes of dough roasted on +a cowdung fire and mixed with butter and sugar, and offer these to +Ganpati. Some of the Salewars are Vaishnavas and others Lingayats: the +former employ Ayawars for their gurus or spiritual preceptors and are +sometimes known as Tirmendar; while the Lingayats, who are also called +Woheda, have Jangams as their priests. In Balaghat and Chhattisgarh +many of the Koshtis belong to the Kabirpanthi sect, and these revere +the special priests of the sect and abstain from the use of flesh and +liquor. They are also known as Ghatibandhia, from the ghat or string +of beads of basil-wool (tulsi) which they tie round their necks. In +Mandla the Kabirpanthi Koshtis eat flesh and will intermarry with +the others, who are known distinctively as Saktaha. The Gurmukhis +are a special sect of the Nagpur country and are the followers of a +saint named Koliba Baba, who lived at Dhapewara near Kalmeshwar. He is +said to have fed five hundred persons with food which was sufficient +for ten and to have raised a Brahman from the dead in Umrer. Some +Brahmans wished to test him and told him to perform a miracle, so he +had a lot of brass pots filled with water and put a cloth over them, +and when he withdrew it the water had changed into curded milk. The +Gurmukhis have a descendant of Koliba Baba for their preceptor, +and each of them keeps a cocoanut in his house, which may represent +Koliba Baba or else the unseen deity. To this he makes offerings of +sandalwood, rice and flowers. The Gurmukhis are forbidden to venerate +any of the ordinary Hindu deities, but they cannot refrain from making +offerings to Mata Mai when smallpox breaks out, and if any person has +the disease in his house they refrain from worshipping the cocoanut +so long as it lasts, because they think that this would be to offer a +slight to the smallpox goddess who is sojourning with them. Another +sect is that of the Matwales who worship Vishnu as Narayan, as well +as Siva and Sakti. They are so called because they drink liquor at +their religious feasts. They have a small platform on which fresh +cowdung is spread every day, and they bow to this before taking their +food. Once in four or five years after a wedding offerings are made +to Narayan Deo on the bank of a tank outside the village; chickens +and goats are killed and the more extreme of them sacrifice a pig, +but the majority will not join with these. Offerings of liquor are +also made and must be drunk by the worshippers. Mehras and other +low castes also belong to this sect, but the Koshtis will not eat +with them. But in Chhindwara it is said that on the day after the +Pola festival in August, when insects are prevalent and the season of +disease begins, the Koshtis and Mangs go out together to look for the +narbod shrub, [619] and here they break a small piece of bread and +eat it together. In Bhandara the Koshtis worship the spirit of one +Kadu, patel or headman of the village of Mohali, who was imprisoned in +the fort of Ambagarh under an accusation of sorcery in Maratha times +and died there. He is known as Ambagarhia Deo, and the people offer +goats and fowls to him in order to be cured of diseases. The above +notice indicates that the caste are somewhat especially inclined +to religious feeling and readily welcome reformers striving against +Hindu polytheism and Brahman supremacy. This is probably due in part +to the social stigma which attaches to the weaving industry among the +Hindus and is resented as an injustice by the Koshtis, and in part +also to the nature of their calling, which leaves the mind free for +thought during long hours while the fingers are playing on the loom; +and with the uneducated serious reflection must almost necessarily be +of a religious character. In this respect the Koshti may be said to +resemble his fellow-weavers of Thrums. In Nagpur District the Koshtis +observe the Muharram festival, and many of them go out begging on the +first day with a green thread tied round their body and a beggar's +wallet. They cook the grain which is given to them on the tenth day +of the festival, giving a little to the Muhammadan priest and eating +the rest. This observance of a Muhammadan rite is no doubt due to +their long association with followers of that religion in Berar. + + + + +6. Superstitions. + +Before beginning work for the day the Salewar makes obeisance to his +loom and implements, nor may he touch them without having washed +his face and hands. A woman must not approach the loom during her +periodical impurity, and if anybody sneezes as work is about to +be begun, they wait a little time to let the ill luck pass off. In +Nagpur they believe that the posts to which the ends of the loom are +fastened have magical powers, and if any one touches them with his +leg he will get ulcers up to the knee. If a woman steps on the kuchi +or loom-brush she is put out of caste and a feast has to be given to +the community before she is readmitted. To cure inflammation in the +eyes they take a piece of plaited grass and wrap it round with cotton +soaked in oil. Then it is held before the sufferer's eyes and set +on fire and the drops of oil are allowed to fall into water, and as +they get cold and congeal the inflammation is believed to abate. Among +some classes of Koshtis the killing of a cat is a very serious offence, +almost equivalent to killing a cow. Even if a man touches a dead cat he +has to give two feasts and be fully purified. The sanctity of the cat +among Hindus is sometimes explained on the ground that it kills rats, +which attract snakes into the house. But the real reason is probably +that primitive people regard all domestic animals as sacred. The +Koshti also reveres the dog and jackal. + + + + +7. Clothes, etc. + +The Salewars of the Godavari tract wrap a short rectangular piece +of cloth round their head as a turban. Formerly, Mr. Raghunath Waman +states, the caste had a distinctive form of turban by which it could +be recognised, but under British administration these rules of dress +are falling into abeyance. A few of the Salewars put on the sacred +thread, but it is not generally worn. Salewar women have a device +representing a half-moon tattooed on the forehead between the ends +of the eyebrows; the cheeks are marked with a small dot and the arms +adorned with a representation of the sacred tulsi or basil. + + + + +8. Social rules and status. + +The caste eat flesh and fish and drink liquor, and in the Maratha +Districts they will eat chickens like most castes of this country. In +Mandla they have recently prohibited the keeping of fowls, under pain +of temporary expulsion. Those who took food in charity-kitchens during +the famine of 1900 were readmitted to the community with the penalty +of shaving the beard and moustaches in the case of a man, and cutting +a few hairs from the head in that of a woman. In Berar the Lad, Jain +and Katghar Koshtis are all strict vegetarians. The Koshtis employ +Brahmans for their ceremonies, but their social status is about on a +level with the village menials, below the cultivating castes. This, +however, is a very good position for weavers, as most of the weaving +castes are stigmatised as impure. But the Koshtis live in towns and not +in villages and weave the finer kinds of cloth for which considerable +skill is required, while in former times their work also yielded a good +remuneration. These facts probably account for their higher status; +similarly the Tantis or weavers of Bengal who produce the fine muslins +of Dacca, so famous in Mughal times, have obtained such a high rank +there that Brahmans will take water from their hands; [620] while +the few Tantis who are found in the Central Provinces are regarded as +impure and are not touched. The caste are of a turbulent disposition, +perhaps on account of their comparatively light work, which does not +tire their bodies like cultivation and other manual labour. One or +two serious riots have been caused by the Koshtis in recent years. + + + + +9. Occupation. + +The standard occupation of the caste is the weaving of the fine +silk-bordered cloths which are universally worn on the body by Brahmans +and other well-to-do persons of the Maratha country. The cloth is +usually white with borders of red silk. They dye their own thread with +lac or the flowers of the palas tree (Butea frondosa). The price of a +pair of loin-cloths of this kind is Rs. 14, and of a pair of dupattas +or shoulder-cloths Rs. 10, while women's saris also are made. Each +colony of Koshtis in a separate town usually only weave one kind of +cloth of the size for which their looms are made. The silk-bordered +loin-cloths of Umrer and Pauni are well known and are sent all over +India. The export of hand-woven cloth from all towns of the Nagpur +plain has been estimated at Rs. 5 lakhs a year. The rich sometimes +have the cloths made with gold lace borders. The following account +of the caste is given in Sir R. Craddock's Nagpur Settlement Report: +"The Koshti is an inveterate grumbler, and indeed from his point of +view he has a great deal to complain of. On the one hand the price of +raw cotton and the cost of his living have increased very largely; +on the other hand, the product of his loom commands no higher price +than it did before, and he cannot rely on selling it when the market +is slack. He cannot adapt himself to the altered environment and clings +to his loom. He dislikes rough manual labour and alleges, no doubt with +truth, that it deprives him of the delicacy of touch needed in weaving +the finer cloths. If prices rise he is the first to be distressed, +and on relief works he cannot perform the requisite task and has to +be treated with special indulgence. The mills have been established +many years in Nagpur, but very few of the older weavers have sought +employment there. They have begun to send their children, but work +at home themselves, though they really all use machine-spun yarn. The +Koshtis are quarrelsome and addicted to drink, and they have generally +been the chief instigators of grain riots when prices rise. They often +marry several wives and their houses swarm with a proportionate number +of children. But although the poorer members of the community are in +struggling circumstances and are put to great straits when prices of +food rise, those who turn out the fine silk-bordered work are fairly +prosperous in ordinary times." + + + END OF VOL. III + + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] This article is based on information collected by Mr. Hira Lal +in Jubbulpore, and the author in Mandla. + +[2] The word Dishai really means direction or cardinal point, but +as the goddess dwells in the sheep-pen it is probable that she was +originally the sheep itself. + +[3] The following particulars are taken from the Central Provinces +Monograph on Woollen Industries, by Mr. J. T. Marten. + +[4] A Naturalist on the Prowl, 3rd ed., p. 219. In the quotation +the Hindustani word kammal, commonly used in the Central Provinces, +is substituted for the Marathi word kambli. + +[5] This article is compiled from an excellent monograph contributed +by Surgeon-Major Mitchell of Bastar State, with extracts from Colonel +Glasfurd's Report on Bastar (Selections from the Records of the +Government of India in the Foreign Department, No. 39 of 1863). + +[6] India Census Report (1901), p. 283. + +[7] Madras Census Report (1891), p. 253. + +[8] Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 22. + +[9] Madras Census Report (1891), p. 253. + +[10] Report on the Dependency of Bastar, p. 37. + +[11] Report on the Dependency of Bastar, p. 37. + +[12] Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 270. + +[13] Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Pan. + +[14] The human sacrifices of the Khonds were suppressed about 1860. See +the article on that tribe. + +[15] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Jhanjhan Rai, +Tahsildar, Sarangarh, and Satyabadi Misra of the Sambalpur Census +office. + +[16] Mund-jhulana, to swing the head. + +[17] Based on notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal at Chanda and the notices +of the Garpagari in the District Gazetteers. + +[18] Village watchman. + +[19] Dr. Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion, p. 171. + +[20] The Golden Bough, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 68, quoting from French +authorities. + +[21] This article is based on papers by Mr. Jeorakhan Lal, Deputy +Inspector of Schools, Bilaspur, and Bhagwan Singh, Court of Wards +Clerk, Bilaspur. + +[22] The Celestial Physician. + +[23] This article is compiled partly from papers by Munshis Pyare +Lal Misra and Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer Office. + +[24] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Ghasi. + +[25] Central Provinces Gazetteer (1871), p. 273. + +[26] Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, p. 325. + +[27] Ficus glomerata. + +[28] Cynodon dactylon. + +[29] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Ghasi. + +[30] This article is based partly on a paper by Khan Bahadur Imdad Ali, +Pleader, Damoh. + +[31] Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 272. + +[32] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Ghosi. + +[33] From a note by Mr. Hira Lal. + +[34] This article is compiled from papers by Kanhya Lal of the +Gazetteer Office, and Madho Rao, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Balaghat. + +[35] Balaghat District Gazetteer (C. E. Low), p. 80. + +[36] Linguistic Survey of India, vol. iv. Dravidian Language, p. 386. + +[37] The country of Gondwana properly included the Satpura plateau +and a section of the Nagpur plain and Nerbudda valley to the south +and west. + +[38] Early History of India, 3rd ed. p. 337. + +[39] Art. Gondwana. + +[40] Linguistic Survey, Munda and Dravidian Languages, iv. p. 285. + +[41] Notes, p. 15. + +[42] Garha is six miles from Jubbulpore. + +[43] See article on Kol. + +[44] Mr. Standen's Betul Settlement Report. + +[45] The argument in this section will be followed more easily if +read after the legend in the following paragraphs. + +[46] Highlands of Central India (Chapman & Hall). + +[47] Deo-khulla or threshing-floor of the gods. See section on +Religion. + +[48] Passage from Mr. Hislop's version. + +[49] Dhupgarh in Pachmarhi might be indicated, which has a steep +summit. + +[50] Terminalia arjuna. + +[51] This extract is reproduced by permission of the publishers, +Messrs. Chapman & Hall, London. + +[52] Tekam the teak tree, Markam the mango tree, and Telengam the +Telugu. These are the names of well-known exogamous septs. + +[53] See section on Religion. + +[54] See also art. Kahar. + +[55] The theory is stated and explained in vol. iv. of Exogamy and +Totemism. + +[56] See para. 15. + +[57] Boswellia serrata. + +[58] Semecarpus anacardium. + +[59] Anogeissus latifolia. + +[60] Diosypyros tomentosa. + +[61] One rupee = 1s. 4d. + +[62] From Mr. Langhorne's monograph. + +[63] The above rite has some resemblance to the test required of the +suitors of Penelope in the Odyssey of bending the bow of Odysseus +and shooting an arrow through the axes, which they could not perform. + +[64] The information on child-birth is obtained from papers by +Mr. Durga Prasad Pande, Extra Assistant Commissioner, and the +Rev. Mr. Franzen of Chhindwara, and from notes taken in Mandla. + +[65] See articles on Kunbi, Kurmi, and Mehtar. + +[66] Boswellia serrata. + +[67] The following examples of names were furnished by the +Rev. Mr. Franzen and Mr. D. P. Pande. + +[68] See article on Kurmi. + +[69] Boswellia serrata. + +[70] Deputy-Commissioner, Chhindwara. The note was contributed to +the Central Provinces Census Report for 1881 (Mr. Drysdale). + +[71] Ghora, a horse. + +[72] Diospyros tomentosa. + +[73] Cassia fistula. + +[74] This is incorrect, at present at any rate, as the Karma is +danced during the harvest period. But it is probable that the ritual +observances for communal fishing and hunting have now fallen into +abeyance. + +[75] C. P. Gazetteer (1871), Introduction, p. 130. + +[76] This section contains some information furnished by R. B. Hira +Lal. + +[77] Notes on the Gonds, pp. 15, 16. + +[78] Indian Caste, i. p. 325. + +[79] See article Birhor. + +[80] See article Bhunjia. + +[81] Notes, p. 1. + +[82] Highlands of Central India, p. 156. + +[83] Report on Bastar Dependency, p. 41. + +[84] Assessment of revenue for land. + +[85] Quoted in C.P. Gazetteer (1871), Introduction, p. 113. + +[86] Chhindwara Settlement Report. + +[87] Report on Bastar Dependency, p. 43. + +[88] Ind. Ant. (1876), p. 359. + +[89] See para. 65, Tattooing. + +[90] See para. 41, Religion. + +[91] Balaghat District Gazetteer, p. 87. + +[92] Rawan was the demon king of Ceylon who fought against Rama, +and from whom the Gonds are supposed to be descended. Hence this song +may perhaps refer to a Gond revolt against the Hindus. + +[93] The amaltas or Cassia fistula, which has flowers like a +laburnum. The idea is perhaps that its leaves are too small to make +a proper leaf-cup, and she will not take the trouble to get suitable +leaves. + +[94] Hislop, Notes, p. 2. + +[95] Chhindwara Settlement Report. + +[96] This article is based on a paper by Pandit Pyare Lal Misra. + +[97] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Kesho Rao Joshi, +Headmaster, City School, Nagpur, and Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic +Clerk. + +[98] Page 67. + +[99] In the Maratha Districts the term Ganges sometimes signifies +the Wainganga. + +[100] Dam apparently here means life or breath. + +[101] Gunthorpe, p. 91. + +[102] This article contains material from Mr. J. C. Oman's Mystics, +Ascetics and Saints of India, Sir E. Maclagan's Punjab Census Report, +1891, and Dr. J. N. Bhattacharya's Hindu Castes and Sects (Calcutta, +Messrs. Thacker, Spink and Co.). + +[103] Elaeocarpus. + +[104] Mr. Marten's C.P. Census Report (1911), p. 79. + +[105] Orphéus, p. 137. + +[106] Oman, Mystics, Ascetics and Saints, p. 269. + +[107] Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 380. + +[108] Bhattacharya, ibidem, and Oman, Mystics, Ascetics and Saints, +pp. 160, 161. + +[109] Buchanan, Eastern India, i. pp. 197, 198. + +[110] Nesfield, Brief View of the Caste System, p. 86. + +[111] J. C. Oman, Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India (London, +T. Fisher Unwin), p. 11. + +[112] Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India, pp. 156, 157. + +[113] Sir E. Maclagan, Punjab Census Report (1891), p. 112. + +[114] This article is based on notes by Mr. Percival, Assistant +Conservator of Forests, and Rai Bahadur Hira Lal. + +[115] For further details see article on Gond Gowari. + +[116] See article on Kunbi. + +[117] Early History of India, 3rd ed. pp. 409, 411. + +[118] Mr. Smith ascribes this discovery to Messrs. A. M. T. Jackson +(Bombay Gazetteer, vol. i. Part I., 1896, p. 467); D. R. Bhandarkar, +Gurjaras (J. Bo. R.A.S. vol. xx.); and Epigraphic Notes (ibidem, +vol. xxi.); and Professor Kielhorn's paper on the Gwalior Inscription +of Mihira Bhoja in a German journal. + +[119] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, Appendix B, The Gujars. + +[120] The Khazars were known to the Chinese as Yetas, the beginning +of Yeta-i-li-to, the name of their ruling family, and the nations of +the west altered this to Hyatilah and Ephthalite. Campbell, ibidem. + +[121] See article on Panwar Rajput, para. 1. + +[122] Campbell, loc. cit. p. 495. + +[123] Tribes and Castes, article Gujar, para. 12. The description +is mainly taken from Elliott's History of India as told by its own +Historians. + +[124] Description of the Kangra Gujars by Mr. Barnes. Quoted in +Ibbetson's Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 481. + +[125] Census Report, para. 481. + +[126] Cf. Krishna's epithet of Murlidhar or the flute-player, and +the general association of the flute with herdsmen and shepherds in +Greek and Roman mythology. + +[127] Ibidem. + +[128] Hoshangabad Settlement Report, para. 16. + +[129] Nimar Settlement Report (1868). + +[130] This article is based partly on a paper by Mr. Abdus Subhan Khan, +Tahsildar, Hinganghat, and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office. + +[131] The trifoliate leaf of Aegle Marmelos. + +[132] Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xviii. p. 266. + +[133] History of the Marathas, vol. i. p. 26, footnote. + +[134] Bombay Gazetteer, vol. x. p. 119. + +[135] Bombay Ethnographic Survey, Monograph on Gurao. + +[136] Sesamum. + +[137] Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xix. p. 101. + +[138] This article is compiled principally from a monograph by Munshi +Kanhya Lal, Assistant Master, Raipur High School, and formerly of +the Gazetteer Office; and also from papers by Mr. Panda Baijnath, +Superintendent of Bastar State, and Mr. Gokul Prasad, Tahsildar of +Dhamtari. The descriptions of marriage, funeral and birth customs +are taken from Munshi Kanhya Lal's monograph. + +[139] By the Rev. G. K. Gilder of the Methodist Episcopal Mission +of Raipur. + +[140] Chalki is said to have been a Brahman who gave shelter to the +pregnant fugitive widow of a Raja; and her child was the ancestor of +the Bastar dynasty. But the name may also be taken from the Chalukya +Rajput clan. + +[141] The Rawats or Ahirs are graziers, and the Bhatra, Parja and +Muria are primitive tribes allied to the Gonds. + +[142] Linguistic Survey, vol. vii. p. 331, and a note kindly furnished +by Sir G. Grierson at the time of the census. + +[143] Buchanania latifolia. + +[144] Bassia latifolia. Both these trees are valued because the fruit +of the first and the flowers of the second afford food. + +[145] A black pulse. + +[146] The Hindus number the days of each lunar fortnight separately. + +[147] It is simply water in which gold has been dipped. + +[148] Crooke, ii. 481. + +[149] Brief View, p. 31. + +[150] Buchanania latifolia. + +[151] Based principally on the account of the Hatkars on p. 200 of +Sir A. Lyall's Berar Gazetteer, with some notes taken by Mr. Hira +Lal in Buldana. + +[152] Colonel Meadows Taylor, Tara, p. 404. + +[153] Ain-i-Akbari, quoted in Berar Gazetteer, p. 200. + +[154] Berar Gazetteer. + +[155] Partly based on a paper by Munshi Kanhaya Lal of the Gazetteer +Office. + +[156] Muhammadans of Gujarat, by Khan Bahadur Fazalullah Lutfullah +Faridi, pp. 21, 22. + +[157] Rasmala, ii. p. 90. + +[158] Faridi, ibidem. + +[159] See article on Bhat. + +[160] Acacia arabica. + +[161] The late Mr. A. M. T. Jackson's notes, Ind. Ant., August 1912, +p. 56. + +[162] Laws of Manu, xi. p. 175, quoted in The Origin and Development +of the Moral Ideas, ii. p. 476. + +[163] Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, +ii. p. 470. + +[164] Ibidem, ii. p. 471. + +[165] Ibidem, ii. pp. 481, 482. + +[166] Ibidem, ii. pp. 487-489. + +[167] This article is compiled from a paper by Mr. Babu Rao, Deputy +Inspector of Schools, Seoni District. + +[168] In this year only 33 Holias were returned as against more than +4000 in 1891; but, on the other hand, in 1901 the number of Golars +was double that of the previous census. + +[169] Mysore Census Report (1891), p. 254. + +[170] Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 258. + +[171] This article is principally based on information collected by +Mr. Hira Lal in Bhandara. + +[172] A corruption of Uika. + +[173] See the articles Mahar and Kunbi. + +[174] This article is partly based on a paper by Bihari Lal, Patwari, +of Hoshangabad. + +[175] Semaria is a common name of villages, and is of course as such +derived from the semar tree, but the argument is that the Jadams took +the name from the village and not from the tree. Totem is perhaps +rather a strong word for the kind of veneration paid; the vernacular +term used in Bombay is devak. + +[176] This article is based on an account of the Jaduas by +Mr. A. Knyvett, Superintendent of Police, Patna, and kindly +communicated by Mr. C. W. C. Plowden, Deputy Inspector-General of +Police, Bengal, through Mr. G. W. Gayer, in charge of the Central +Provinces Criminal Investigation Department. + +[177] Sherring, Castes and Tribes, iii. p. 123. + +[178] The nut of Eleocarpus lanceolatus. + +[179] Aegle marmelos. + +[180] Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies, 1897 ed. p. 118. + +[181] This article is partly based on information contributed by +Mr. Debendra Nath Dutt, Pleader, Narsinghpur; Mr. Ganga Singh, Extra +Assistant Commissioner, Hoshangabad; and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the +Gazetteer Office. The correct pronunciation of the caste name is Jat, +but in the Central Provinces it is always called Jat. + +[182] Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 421. + +[183] Early History of India. + +[184] Mahabharata, viii. 2026, et seq., translated by Professor +H. H. Wilson, and quoted in vol. i. pp. 260, 262 of Dr. J. Wilson's +Indian Caste. + +[185] Ibidem, paras. 422-424. + +[186] Kashyap was a Rishi or saint, but he may probably have developed +into an eponymous hero from Kachhap, a tortoise. + +[187] Hoshangabad Settlement Report, p. 62. + +[188] Aegle marmelos. + +[189] Hoshangabad Settlement Report, loc. cit. + +[190] This article is entirely based on an account of the caste +furnished by Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath, Superintendent, Bastar State. + +[191] Bassia latifolia. + +[192] Boswellia serrata. + +[193] This has been fully demonstrated by Sir J. G. Frazer in The +Golden Bough. + +[194] Colebrooke's Essays. + +[195] Quoting from Dr. George Smith's Life of Dr. Wilson, p. 74. + +[196] Ibidem, pp. 13-15. + +[197] Weber's Indian Literature, p. 239. + +[198] Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap, lxiii. + +[199] Republished in the Theosophist. + +[200] Eastern India, ii. p. 756. + +[201] Travels in the Mughal Empire, Constable's edition, p. 316. + +[202] Rajasthan, ii. p. 19. + +[203] Maclagan, l.c. p. 115. + +[204] Ibidem, l.c. + +[205] Maclagan, l.c. + +[206] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Kanphata. + +[207] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Jogi. + +[208] Sleeman, Report on the Badhaks, pp. 332, 333. + +[209] These proverbs are taken from Temple and Fallon's Hindustani +Proverbs. + +[210] Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xxi. p. 184. + +[211] Phaseolus radiatus. + +[212] Newcomb's Astronomy for Everybody, p. 33. + +[213] Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the sidereal year is +not the same as the solar year, being about 20 minutes longer. That +is, the sun passes a particular star a second time in a period of 365 +days 6 hours and 9 minutes, while it passes the equatorial point in +365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 49 seconds, this latter period being the +solar year. The difference is due to slight changes in the direction of +the earth's axis, which change the position of the celestial equator +and of the equinoctial point where the sun crosses it. It is not +clear how the Hindus get over this difficulty, but the point does +not affect the general account. + +[214] The stars corresponding to the nakshatras and their symbols are +mainly taken from Mr. L. D. Barnett's Antiquities of India, pp. 190, +191, compared with the list in Mr. W. Brennand's Hindu Astronomy, +pp. 40, 42. + +[215] Taken from Professor Newcomb's Astronomy for Everybody. + +[216] The moon's orbit is really an ellipse like that of the earth +and all the planets. + +[217] Barnett, op. cit. p. 190. + +[218] The Indian Calendar, by Messrs. Sewell and Dikshit, pp. 11 +and 25. + +[219] Brennand's Hindu Astronomy, p. 100. + +[220] The Indian Calendar, Sewell and Dikshit, p. 28 and Table I. + +[221] This seems to have been done by some ancient Indian astronomers. + +[222] The Indian Calendar, p. 29. + +[223] Taken from Brennand's Hindu Astronomy, p. 39. + +[224] Barnett, Antiquities of India, p. 193. + +[225] The above particulars regarding the measurement of time by the +gharial are taken from 'An Account of the Hindustani Horometry' in +Asiatic Researches, vol. v. p. 81, by John Gilchrist, Esq. The account +appears to be to some extent controversial, and it is possible that +the arrangement of the gharis may have varied in different localities. + +[226] The information contained in this paragraph is taken from Captain +Mackintosh's Report on the Ramosis, chap. iii. (India Office Library +Tracts), in which a large variety of rules are given. + +[227] Some of these names and also some of the women's names have +been taken from Colonel Temple's Proper Names of the Punjabis. + +[228] Punjab Ethnography, para. 612. + +[229] This passage is taken from Sir G. Grierson's Peasant Life in +Bihar, p. 64. + +[230] This article is based on a paper by Mr. Pancham Lal, +naib-tahsildar, Murwara, with extracts from the Central Provinces +Monograph on Pottery and Glassware, by Mr. Jowers, and some information +collected by Mr. Hira Lal. + +[231] Dhal means a shield, and the ornament is of this shape. + +[232] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, article Kachhi. + +[233] Partly based on a paper by Munshi Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer +office. + +[234] Irvine, Army of the Mughals, pp. 158, 159. + +[235] Boswellia serrata. + +[236] Sesamum indicum. + +[237] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Sarat Chandra Sanyal, +Sessions Judge, Nagpur, and Mr. Abdul Samad, Tahsildar, Sohagpur. + +[238] Eastern India, ii. 426. + +[239] Ibidem, iii. pp. 119, 120. + +[240] Moor, Hindu Infanticide, p. 91. + +[241] Yule and Burnell's Hobson-Jobson, Crooke's edition, s.v. Boy. + +[242] Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P., art. Kahar. + +[243] Private Life of an Eastern King, p. 207. + +[244] Ibidem, pp. 200, 202. + +[245] Stevens, In India, p. 313. + +[246] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kahar. + +[247] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, ibidem. + +[248] S.v. Boy. + +[249] This article is partly compiled from papers by Mr. G. Falconer +Taylor, Forest Divisional Officer, and by Kanhya Lal, Clerk in the +Gazetteer office. + +[250] Berar Census Report (1881), p. 141. + +[251] Hislop papers. Vocabulary. + +[252] North Arcot Manual, p. 247. + +[253] 1881, p. 141. + +[254] Ibidem. + +[255] Bombay Gazetteer (Campbell), vol. xii. p. 120. + +[256] Bombay Gazetteer (Campbell), vol. xxi. p. 172. + +[257] Berar Census Report (1881), p. 141. + +[258] Some information for this article has been supplied by Babu Lal, +Excise Sub-Inspector, Mr. Aduram Chaudhri, Tahsildar, and Sundar Lal +Richaria, Sub-Inspector of Police. + +[259] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kalar. + +[260] Bassia latifolia, the tree from whose flowers fermented liquor +is made. + +[261] The headquarters of the Sanjari tahsil in Drug District. + +[262] Phulbaba, lit. 'flower-father.' + +[263] This story is only transplanted, a similar one being related by +Colonel Tod in the Annals of the Bundi State (Rajasthan, ii. p. 441). + +[264] Saccharum spontaneum. + +[265] Settlement Report, p. 26. + +[266] Mr. (Sir E.) Maclagan's Punjab Census Report (1891). + +[267] Religions of India, p. 113. + +[268] Apparently also called Sarcostemma viminalis. + +[269] Bombay Gazetteer, Parsis of Guiarat, by Messrs. Nasarvanji +Girvai and Behramji Patel, p. 228, footnote. + +[270] Ibidem. + +[271] Hopkins, loc. cit. p. 213. + +[272] Rajendra Lal Mitra, Indo-Aryans, ii. p. 419. + +[273] Deussen, Outlines of Indian Philosophy, p. 12. + +[274] Indo-Aryans, i. p. 393. + +[275] Ibidem, p. 396. + +[276] Ibidem, p. 402. + +[277] Indo-Aryans, i. p. 411. + +[278] Garrett's Classical Dictionary, s.v. Varuni and Vishnu. + +[279] The Golden Bough, 2nd edition, i. pp. 359, 360. + +[280] Indo-Aryans, pp. 408, 409. + +[281] Ibidem, pp. 404, 405. + +[282] Indo-Aryans, pp. 405, 406. + +[283] Bombay Gazetteer, Poona, p. 549. + +[284] Cannabis sativa. + +[285] A liquor made from the flowers of the hemp plant, commonly +drunk in the hot weather. + +[286] See Mr. E. Clodd's Myths and Dreams, under Dreams. + +[287] A name of Siva or Mahadeo. + +[288] 'Victory to Shankar.' + +[289] A preparation of opium for smoking. + +[290] T. H. Hendley, Account of the Bhils, J.A.S.B. xliv., 1875, +p. 360. + +[291] M. Salomon Reinach in Orphéus, p. 120. + +[292] Sir James Frazer in Attis, Adonis, Osiris, ii. p. 241. + +[293] Book IV., chap. lxxv., quoted in Lane's Modern Egyptians, p. 347. + +[294] Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 348. + +[295] Eastern India, iii. p. 163. + +[296] Sir G. Watt's Commercial Products of India, s.v. Nicotiana. + +[297] Ind. Ant., January 1911, p. 39. + +[298] Tobacco is no doubt a derivative from some American word, +and Platts derives the Hindi tanbaku or tambaku from tobacco. The +fact that tanbaku is also Persian for tobacco militates against the +Sanskrit derivation suggested by Mr. Ganpat Rai and others, and tends +to demonstrate its American importation. + +[299] This article is based on papers drawn up by Mr. Hira Lal, +Extra Assistant Commissioner, Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic Clerk, +and a very full account of the tribe by Mr. Ganpati Giri, Manager of +Bindranawagarh, which has furnished the greater part of the article, +especially the paragraphs on birth, religion and social customs. + +[300] Jungle Life in India, p. 588. + +[301] Criminal Tribes, p. 78. + +[302] Criminal Classes. + +[303] Berar Census Report (1881), p. 140. + +[304] Page 139. + +[305] See art. Beria, para. 1. + +[306] Ibbetson, Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 527. + +[307] Ibidem. + +[308] Art. Kanjar, para. 3. + +[309] Ibbetson. + +[310] Crooke, art. Dom, para. 21. + +[311] Lectures, p. 59. + +[312] Bombay Gazetteer, Muhammadans of Gujarat, p. 83. + +[313] Kennedy, Criminal Tribes of Bombay, p. 257. + +[314] Criminal Tribes, p. 46. + +[315] Berar Census Report (1881), p. 140. + +[316] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Dom. + +[317] Nesfield, l.c. p. 393. + +[318] Ind. Ant. xvi. p. 37. + +[319] Ind. Ant. xv. p. 15. + +[320] In Sir G. Grierson's account the Bhojpuri version is printed in +the Nagari character; but this cannot be reproduced. It is possible +that one or two mistakes have been made in transliteration. + +[321] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's article on Dom. + +[322] Gayer, Lectures, p. 59. + +[323] Gunthorpe, p. 81. Mr. Kennedy says: "Sansia and Beria women have +a clove (lavang) in the left nostril; the Sansias, but not the Berias, +wear a bullaq or pendant in the fleshy part of the nose." + +[324] Gayer, l.c. p. 61. + +[325] Crooke, l.c. para. 3. + +[326] In a footnote Mr. Nesfield states: "The Kanjar who communicated +these facts said that the child used to open out its neck to the +knife as if it desired to be sacrificed to the deity." + +[327] Butea frondosa. + +[328] It is not, I think, used for weaving now, but only for stuffing +quilts and cushions. + +[329] But elsewhere Mr. Nesfield says that the brushes are made from +the khas-khas grass, and this is, I think, the case in the Central +Provinces. + +[330] This article is compiled principally from a note by Mr. Paiku, +Inspector of Police, Chanda. + +[331] This article is based principally on a paper by Nand Kishore, +Bohidar, Sambalpur. + +[332] Hobson-Jobson, art. Cranny. + +[333] Eragrostis cynosuroides. + +[334] (London, A. & C. Black.) + +[335] This definition of totemism is more or less in accord with that +held by the late Professor Robertson Smith, but is not generally +accepted. The exhaustive collection of totemic beliefs and customs +contained in Sir J. G. Frazer's Totemism and Exogamy affords, however, +substantial evidence in favour of it among tribes still in the hunting +stage in Australia, North America and Africa. The Indian form of +totemism is, in the writer's opinion, a later one, arising when the +totem animal has ceased to be the main source of life, and when the +clan come to think that they are descended from their totem animal and +that the spirits of their ancestors pass into the totem animal. When +this belief arises, they cease eating the totem as a mark of veneration +and respect, and abstain from killing or injuring it. Finally the totem +comes to be little more than a clan-name or family name, which serves +the purpose of preventing marriage between persons related through +males, who believe themselves to be descended from a common ancestor. + +[336] Orphéus (Heinemann), p. 197. + +[337] Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 248. + +[338] Orphéus, p. 47. + +[339] Ibidem, p. 50. + +[340] B. G. Parsis of Gujarat, pp. 232, 241. + +[341] Orphéus, pp. 101, 102. + +[342] Ibidem, p. 204. + +[343] Ibidem, p. 144. + +[344] Ibidem, p. 169. + +[345] D. M. Flinders-Petrie, Egypt and Israel, p. 61. + +[346] Gomme, Folk-lore as a Historical Science, p. 161. + +[347] Haug's Essays on the Parsis, p. 286. + +[348] Golden Bough, ii. pp. 299-301. See article on Kumhar. + +[349] Orphéus, p. 139. + +[350] Orphéus, pp. 119, 120. + +[351] Ibidem, p. 144. + +[352] Religions, Ancient and Modern, Ancient Rome, Cyril Bailey, p. 86. + +[353] Religions, Ancient and Modern, Ancient Egypt, Professor +Flinders-Petrie, p. 22. + +[354] Religions, Ancient and Modern, Ancient Egypt, Professor +Flinders-Petrie, pp. 24, 26. + +[355] Vide article on Bania. + +[356] Dowson's and Garrett's Classical Dictionaries, art. Kartikeya. + +[357] Religion of the Semites, p. 265. + +[358] Ibidem, pp. 269, 270. + +[359] Religion of the Semites, pp. 270, 271. + +[360] Ibidem, pp. 273, 274. + +[361] Religion of the Semites, p. 289. + +[362] Ibidem, p. 313. + +[363] Religion of the Semites, p. 271. + +[364] Religion of the Semites, p. 275. + +[365] Golden Bough, ii. p. 321. + +[366] Vide art. Kumhar. + +[367] Religion of the Semites, p. 338. + +[368] Ibidem, p. 281. + +[369] Dr Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion, p. 150. + +[370] Religion of the Semites, p. 285. + +[371] Orphéus, pp. 123, 125. + +[372] In following the explanation of the Passover given by Professor +Robertson Smith and M. Reinach, it is necessary with great diffidence +to dissent from the hypothesis of Sir J. G. Frazer that the lamb was +a substitute for the previous sacrifice by the Israelites of their +first-born sons. + +[373] Orphéus, p. 272; Religion of the Semites, p. 311. + +[374] Religion of the Semites, p. 304. + +[375] Ibidem, pp. 305, 306. + +[376] Religion of the Semites, pp. 296, 297. + +[377] Golden Bough, ii. p. 313. + +[378] When the blood of the animal was poured out before the god as +his share. + +[379] Religion of the Semites, p. 246. + +[380] Vide article on Dhanwar. + +[381] Sir G. Robertson, Kafirs of the Hindu Kush, pp. 450, 451. + +[382] Ibidem, p. 460. + +[383] Dalton, Ethnology of Bengal, p. 176. + +[384] Grant-Duff, History of the Marathas, vol. i. p. 27. Mr. Hira +Lal notes that owing to the predominance of Muhammadans in Berar +the practice of slaughtering all animals by the method of halal and +the regular employment of the Mullah to pronounce the sacred text +before slaughter may have grown up for their convenience. And, as in +other instances, the Hindus may have simply imitated the Muhammadans +in regarding this method of slaughter as necessary. This however +scarcely seems to impair the force of the argument if the Hindus +actually refused to eat animals not killed by halal; they must in +that case have attached some religious significance or virtue to the +rite, and the most probable significance is perhaps that stated in +the text. As Mr. Hira Lal points out, the Hindu sacred books provide +an elaborate ritual for the sacrifice of animals, but this may have +fallen into abeyance with the decline in the custom of eating meat. + +[385] Vide article on Mochi. + +[386] V. A. Smith, Asoka, p. 56. + +[387] Ibidem, p. 58. + +[388] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Rajaram Gangadhar, +Tahsildar, Arvi; Mr. Sadasheo Jairam, Sanskrit Professor, Hislop +College; and Mr. Deodatta Namdar, Manager, Court of Wards, Chauri. + +[389] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Thathera. + +[390] Crooke's art. Thathera. + +[391] A part of the information contained in this article is furnished +by Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office. + +[392] Madras Census Report (1901), p. 151, quoting from South Indian +Inscriptions, Buchanan's Mysore, Canara and Malabar, and Elliot's +History of India. + +[393] Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, ii. pp. 444, 445. + +[394] The Golden Bough, vol. ii. p. 205 et seq. + +[395] Garrett's Classical Dictionary of the Hindus, p. 322. + +[396] Westermarck, ibidem, quoting Ward's Hindus, p. 134. + +[397] Wheeler's History of India, vol. iv. part ii. pp. 324, 325. + +[398] Forbes, Rasmala, i. p. 247. + +[399] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Tawaif. + +[400] Extract from the Dasa Kumara Charita or Adventures of the Ten +Youths, in A Group of Hindu Stories, p. 72. + +[401] S. M. Edwardes, By-ways of Bombay, p. 31. + +[402] Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, p. 93. + +[403] Eastern India, i. p. 119. + +[404] Ibidem, iii. p. 107. + +[405] Ibidem, ii. p. 930. + +[406] Persian Travels, book iii. chap. xvii. + +[407] From a review of A German Staff Officer in India, written by +Sir Evelyn Wood in the Saturday Review, 5th February 1910. + +[408] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Vaishnava. The notice, as +stated, refers only to the lowest section of Bairagis. + +[409] Memoir of Central India. + +[410] Tribes and Castes of the N.-W. P., art. Katwa. + +[411] Temple and Fallon's Hindustani Proverbs. + +[412] Perhaps a leather strap or belt. + +[413] A revolution or circuit. + +[414] A thousand. + +[415] The third Baisakh (June). + +[416] Butea frondosa. + +[417] A description of the ceremony is given in the article on Kurmi. + +[418] This article is based almost entirely on a monograph contributed +by Mr. Hira Lal. + +[419] Ethnology, p. 158. + +[420] Fruit of the egg-plant. + +[421] Ethnology, pp. 136, 137. + +[422] Jungle Life in India, pp. 315, 316. + +[423] This article is based partly on papers by Munshi Kanhya Lal of +the Gazetteer office, Mr. Sundar Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner, +Saugor, and Mr. J. N. Sil, Pleader, Seoni. + +[424] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 59, quoting from Ind. Ant. vi. 192-193. + +[425] Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 175. + +[426] Eastern India, i. p. 162. + +[427] Ibidem, ii. p. 466. + +[428] Ibidem, ii. p. 736. + +[429] Ibidem, ii. p. 122. + +[430] Essays, vol. ii. p. 182. + +[431] Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 312, 313. + +[432] United Provinces Census Report (1901), pp. 222-223. + +[433] Lala Jwala Prasad, Extra Assistant Commissioner, in Sir +E. A. Maclagan's Punjab Census Report for 1891. + +[434] Memoir of Central India, vol. ii. pp. 165-166. + +[435] The Kanungo maintains the statistical registers of land-revenue, +rent, cultivation, cropping, etc., for the District as a whole which +are compiled from those prepared by the patwaris for each village. + +[436] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 60. + +[437] Ibidem, p. 64. + +[438] Ibidem, p. 61. + +[439] Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 177. It is true +that Dr. Bhattacharya states that the Kayasths were also largely +employed under the Hindu kings of Bengal, but he gives no authority +for this. The Gaur Kayasths also claim that the Sena kings of Bengal +were of their caste, but considering that these kings were looked on +as spiritual heads of the country and one of them laid down rules for +the structure and intermarriage of the Brahman caste, it is practically +impossible that they could have been Kayasths. The Muhammadan conquest +of Bengal took place at an early period, and very little detail is +known about the preceding Hindu dynasties. + +[440] Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bihar Kayasth. + +[441] Sherring, Tribes and Castes, vol. iii. pp. 253-254. + +[442] Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Tribes, p. 177. + +[443] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 81. + +[444] Ibidem, p. 67. + +[445] Ibidem, p. 68, and Mackintosh, Report in the Ramosis, India +Office Tracts, p. 77. + +[446] Hobson-Jobson, s.v. Cranny. + +[447] Hobson-Jobson, p. 167. + +[448] Memoir of Central India, loc. cit. + +[449] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 60. + +[450] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bengal Kayasth. The Kayasths +deny the story that the five Kayasths were servants of the five +Brahmans, and say that they were Kshatriyas sent on a mission from +the king of Kanauj to the king of Bengal. This, however, is improbable +in view of the evidence already given as to the historical status of +the Kayasths. + +[451] Tribes and Castes, ibidem. + +[452] Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 155. + +[453] Ibidem, pp. 375, 380. + +[454] See articles on Ghasia and Dhobi. + +[455] Village Communities, p. 125. + +[456] Hindu Castes and Sects, ibidem, p. 177. + +[457] Tribes and Castes, art. Kayasth. + +[458] Bhattacharya, loc. cit., p. 188. + +[459] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 72. + +[460] Dasrath and Kaushilya were the father and mother of Rama. + +[461] These are the occupations of the Kayasths. + +[462] Geography and Astronomy. + +[463] Quoted from the Matsapuran in a criticism by Babu Krishna +Nag Verma. + +[464] This article is based on papers by Mr. Mahfuz Ali, tahsildar, +Rajnand-gaon, Mr. Jowahir Singh, Settlement Superintendent, Sambalpur, +and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office. + +[465] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kaibartta. + +[466] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kewat. + +[467] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, ibidem. + +[468] A curved stick carried across the shoulders, from which are +suspended two panniers. + +[469] This article is based on Mr. Crooke's and Colonel Dalton's +accounts, and some notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal at Raigarh. + +[470] Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 128, 129. + +[471] Ibidem, pp. 209, 210. + +[472] Tribes and Castes, art. Kharwar. + +[473] Tribes and Castes of Bengal. + +[474] From bhuj, an arm, and jangh, a thigh. These are Hindi words, +and the whole story is obviously a Brahmanical legend. Balrai seems +a corruption of Balaram, the brother of Krishna. + +[475] Estate held on feudal tenure. + +[476] Religion and Folklore of Northern India, vol. ii. p. 170. + +[477] Crooke, Tribes and Castes. + +[478] Saccharum spontaneum. + +[479] Tribes and Castes, art. Birhor. + +[480] The above instances are reproduced from Sir J. G. Frazer's +Psyche's Task (London, 1909). These cases are all of homicide, but +it seems likely that the action of the Khairwars may be based on the +same motives, as the fear of ghosts is strong among these tribes. + +[481] Risley, loc. cit. + +[482] Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 128, 129. + +[483] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Khairwa. Quoting from Bombay +Gazetteer, x. 48 and iii. 310. + +[484] Loc. cit. + +[485] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Khandait. In 1911, after +the transfer of Sambalpur, only 18 Khandaits remained in the Central +Provinces. + +[486] The following particulars are from a paper by Mr. Kashinath +Bohidar, Assistant Settlement Superintendent, Sonpur. + +[487] Compiled principally from a paper by Kanhya Lal, clerk in the +Gazetteer Office. + +[488] Carthamus tinctorius. + +[489] In the Ethnographic Appendices to the India Census Report of +1901 a slightly different version of the story is given by Captain +Luard. The Dangis, it must be remembered, are a high caste ranking +just below Rajputs. + +[490] This article is mainly based on notes taken by Rai Bahadur +Hira Lal at Raigarh, with extracts from Colonel Dalton's and Sir +H. Risley's accounts of the tribe. + +[491] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kharia. + +[492] Saccharum spontaneum. This grass infests cultivated fields and +is very difficult to eradicate. + +[493] Melia indica. + +[494] Ethnology of Bengal. + +[495] Jungle Life in India, p. 89. + +[496] Linguistic Survey, vol. iv. Munda and Dravidian Languages, p. 22. + +[497] Ibidem, p. 129. + +[498] Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Khatik. + +[499] Census Report (1881), para. 502. + +[500] This statement does not apply to the Chamars of the Central +Provinces. + +[501] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Khatik. + +[502] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, pp. 55, 56. + +[503] Tribes and Castes, art. Khatri. + +[504] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 55. + +[505] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 189. + +[506] Ibidem, pp. 58, 59. + +[507] Hindus of Gujarat, pp. 58, 59. + +[508] This article consists mainly of extracts from Mr. F. L. Faridi's +full account of the Khojahs in the Bombay Gazetteer, Muhammadans +of Gujarat. + +[509] Kandh is the Uriya spelling, and Kond or Khond that of the +Telugus. + +[510] Linguistic Survey of India. + +[511] Narsingha means a man-lion and is one of Vishnu's incarnations; +this subsept would seem, therefore, to have been formed since the +Khonds adopted Hinduism. + +[512] In Orissa, however, relationship through females is a bar to +marriage, as recorded in Sir H. Risley's article. + +[513] Report on the Khonds, p. 56. + +[514] Report, p. 59. + +[515] Sir H. Risley notes that the elephant represented the +earth-goddess herself, who was here conceived in elephant form. In the +hill tracts of Gumsur she was represented in peacock form, and the post +to which the victim was bound bore the effigy of a peacock. Macpherson +also records that when the Khonds attacked the victim they shouted, +'No sin rests on us; we have bought you with a price.' + +[516] Golden Bough, 2nd ed. vol. ii. p. 241 sq. + +[517] Pages 517-519. Published 1906. + +[518] Journal, A. S. of Bengal, 1898. + +[519] Sir G. A. Grierson's Linguistic Survey, Munda and Dravidian +Languages. + +[520] This article is compiled principally from a paper by Pandit +Sakharam, Revenue Inspector, Hoshangabad District. + +[521] Tod's Rajasthan, vol. ii. p. 327. + +[522] Elliott's Hoshangabad Settlement Report, p. 60. + +[523] Compiled from papers by Mr. Mulchand, Deputy Inspector of +Schools, Betul; Mr. Shams-ul-Husain, Tahsildar, Sohagpur; Mr. Kalyan +Chand, Manager, Court of Wards, Betul; and Kanhya Lal, clerk in the +Gazetteer Office. + +[524] Hoshangabad Settlement Report (1867), p. 60. + +[525] History of the Sikhs, p. 15, footnote. + +[526] Ibbetson's Census Report (1881), p. 297. + +[527] Nagpur Settlement Report, p. 24. + +[528] Mr. Lawrence's Bhandara Settlement Report (1867), p. 46. + +[529] Bombay Gazetteer, Satara, p. 106. + +[530] See article on Kunbi. + +[531] Bhandara District Gazetteer, para. 90. + +[532] Bhandara Settlement Report. + +[533] Ibidem. + +[534] Subordinate revenue officer. + +[535] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bhumij. + +[536] The Mundas and their Country, p. 400. + +[537] Linguistic Survey, Munda and Dravidian Languages, vol. vi. p. 7. + +[538] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Munda. + +[539] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, p. 15. + +[540] Introduction to The Mundas and their Country, p. 9. + +[541] Introduction to The Mundas and their Country, p. 9. + +[542] Garha is six miles from Jubbulpore. + +[543] The Mundas and their Country, p. 124. + +[544] Rasmala, i. p. 113. + +[545] Two baskets slung from a stick across the shoulders. + +[546] Dalton, Ethnology of Bengal, p. 166. + +[547] Dalton, p. 152. + +[548] November, January and February. + +[549] Tribes and Castes, art. Munda. + +[550] Thuiya, Bhuiya is a mere jingle. + +[551] J.A.S.B., No. 1 of 1903, p. 31. + +[552] Dalton, ibidem. + +[553] Mr. B. C. Mazumdar's Monograph. + +[554] Roy, ibidem, p. 428. + +[555] The Mundas and their Country, p. 121. + +[556] Linguistic Survey, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages, +p. 27. + +[557] This article includes some extracts from notes made by Colonel +Mackenzie when Commissioner of Berar, and subsequently published in +the Pioneer newspaper; and information collected for the District +Gazetteers in Yeotmal and Wardha. + +[558] Papers relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central +Provinces, p. 10. + +[559] Ibidem, Editor's Note. + +[560] Linguistic Survey, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages, +p. 561. + +[561] India Census Report (1901), p. 287. + +[562] Hunter's Imperial Gazetteer, art. Kolamallai hills. + +[563] Based partly on papers by Mr. Bihari Lal, Naib-Tahsildar, +Bilaspur, and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office. + +[564] For further information the articles on Sansia and Beria may +be consulted. + +[565] Andropagon Schoenanthus. + +[566] Gunthorpe, loc. cit. + +[567] Ibidem, p. 49. + +[568] Kitts, loc. cit. + +[569] Ind. Ant. iii. p. 185, Satara Gazetteer, p. 119. + +[570] Lyall's Berar Gazetteer, pp. 103-5. + +[571] Kathiawar Gazetteer, p. 140. + +[572] Crooke's edition of Hobson-Jobson, art. Koli. + +[573] Bombay City Census Report (1901) (Edwards). + +[574] Gujarat Gazetteer, p. 238. + +[575] Golden Book of India, s.v. + +[576] Semecarpus anacardium, the marking-nut tree. + +[577] Kitts, Berar Census Report (1881), p. 131. + +[578] Akola Gazetteer (Mr. C. Brown), p. 116. + +[579] P. 197. + +[580] Hindus of Gujarat, l.c. + +[581] Indian Antiquary, vol. iii. p. 236. + +[582] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 250. + +[583] Indian Antiquary, vol. iii. p. 236. + +[584] This article is largely compiled from an interesting paper +submitted by Mr. Parmanand Tiwari, Extra Assistant Commissioner and +Assistant Settlement Officer, Sambalpur. + +[585] Phaseolus mungo. + +[586] Madras Census Report (1901), p. 162. + +[587] Mysore Ethnographic Survey, Komati caste (H. V. Nanjundayya). + +[588] H. V. Nanjundayya, loc. cit. + +[589] H. V. Nanjundayya, loc. cit. + +[590] Tribes and Castes of the North-West Provinces, iii. 316. + +[591] This article is largely based on a monograph contributed by +Mr. H. R. Crosthwaite, Assistant Commissioner, Hoshangabad, and +contains also extracts from a monograph by Mr. Ganga Prasad Khatri, +Forest Divisional Officer, Betul, and from the description of the +Korkus given by Mr. (Sir Charles) Elliott in the Hoshangabad Settlement +Report (1867), and by Major Forsyth in the Nimar Settlement Report +(1868-69). + +[592] Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Appendix V.: Korwa. + +[593] See also art. Kol. + +[594] The local term for the god Siva. + +[595] Bauhinia Vahlii. + +[596] Bassia latifolia, Buchanania latifolia, Gmelina arborea and +Sterculia urens. + +[597] Nearly 3 1/2 tons. + +[598] Paspalum scrobiculatum, Panicum psilopodium, Coix Lachryma, +Eleusine coracana, Saccharum officianarum, Setaria italica, Oryza +sativa. + +[599] Eugenia jambolana. + +[600] Makyatotha, Jondhratotha, Dharsiima, Changri, Lobo, Khambi, +Dagde, Kullya, Bursuma and Killibhasam. + +[601] Zizyphus jujuba. + +[602] The tiger-god. + +[603] The above passage is taken from Mr. (Sir Charles) Elliott's +Hoshangabad Settlement Report written in 1867. Since that time the +belief in the magical powers of the Bhumka has somewhat declined. + +[604] A small measure for grain. + +[605] Most of the information in this paragraph is taken from Mr. Ganga +Prasad Khatri's Report. + +[606] Boswellia serrata. + +[607] This article is based on Colonel Dalton's account of the tribe +and on notes by Mr. N. T. Kunte, Jailor, Sarguja, and Mr. Narbad +Dhanu Sao, Assistant Manager, Uprora. + +[608] Ethnology of Bengal, p. 221. + +[609] Shorea robusta. + +[610] Dalton, loc. cit. p. 229. + +[611] Ethnology of Bengal, p. 228. + +[612] Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 228, 229. + +[613] Bauhinia Vahlii. + +[614] Believed to be some kind of vulture. + +[615] This article is based on a good paper by Mr. Raghunath Waman +Vaidya, schoolmaster, Hinganghat, and others by Mr. M. E. Hardas, +Tahsildar, Umrer, and Messrs. Aduram Chaudhri and Pyare Lal Misra of +the Gazetteer Office. + +[616] V. Nanjundayya, Monograph on the Sale Caste (Mysore +Ethnographical Survey). + +[617] With this may be compared the tradition of the sweeper caste +that winnowing fans and sieves were first made out of bones and sinews. + +[618] Kitts, Berar Census Report (1881), p. 127. + +[619] Bauhinia Rusa. + +[620] Sir H. Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Tanti. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tribes and Castes of the Central +Provinces of India, by R. V. Russell + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41424 *** |